Symphogear: A Cybernetic Touch
by striberx
Summary: As the fight against the Noise and Magia continue on, new heroes don their new abilities and suits to fight against them. But because of this, ideals clash, bonds began to break and all could be lost. But with a simple touch of something that nothing can fight against, these heroes and heroines will prevail.
1. Chapter 1: Progrise of Touch

Senki Zessho Symphogear: A Cybernetic Touch

~A tale of the valkyries and the beasts that follow them…~

* * *

Chapter 1: Progrise of Touch -The Grasshopper's Leap of Faith-

* * *

_**WARNING: I own none of these characters sides from my OC(s). All rights go to their respective owners and properties.**_

_**This is nothing more than, well a fanfic, a story made up by a fan for entertainment and knowledge.**_

_**Everything in this fic is not canon and is only meant to give the audience a new idea of the works of each of the franchises in this story.**_

_**So please support me, my work and have some fun. Now enjoy the story. ^w^**_

* * *

As the afternoon came around, it seemed to be a very busy day. Out near the coast line was a very special, and large building. It was mostly held for events, movies and more for the public. But today it was being held by a very famous idol group known as Zwei Wing. And of course, it was packed like any great concert was.

Though outside, waiting to get their tickets and seats were two young teens. One was a male, with dirty yet messy blonde hair, with blue eyes and glasses on. He was wearing a lime green shirt that had a depiction of a grasshopper on it, while having shorts.

And next to him was a young girl with dark orange eyes with short cream colored hair fastened with two red clips on either side of her head. She was wearing a sundress as she seemed to be on the phone with someone as the young boy stood next to her.

"Miku, I thought we were going to meet at the stadium for this concert?" The girl questioned this Miku person on the other line.

"_G-Gomen, Hibiki. My aunt had an accident, so my father is going to drive me and the others there to visit her." _The girl known as Miku responded on the other line.

"Aw, but Cody-san and I don't even know this idol group! After all, you're the one who invited us to this!" Hibiki Tachibana whined out loudly. "We don't even know this group other than what the tickets told us…"

"_Gomen…" _Miku apologized once more, "_But think of it this way. It has been awhile since you and Cody been alone together. Maybe this can be a good experience for you both?"_

"EEEEHHH?! W-W-W-Why would you say something like that, Miku!" Hibiki cried out loudly with a blush on her face, only now gaining the attention of the young male, Cody Aldrich, next to her as he looked confused by her outcry.

"_I promise, I'll repay you two for this later. Just have fun, okay?"_

"F-F-Fine… but you owe us, Miku!" Hibiki responded with a huff.

"_See you two later!"_

*****_**CLICK***_

"I must be cursed or something…" Hibiki muttered with a sigh.

The call was done as Hibiki sighed, putting away her Risephone as the young man walked over.

"So?"

"She… had to cancel because of a family accident."

Cody groaned out, rubbing his arm softly with discomfort, "Seriously? Miku should know that we only came 'cause she didn't want to be alone." He said with some annoyance.

"She promised she'll repay us for having to cancel." Hibiki stated.

"Are you sure we can't just go?" He questioned the girl.

"Of course not! We're all the way here after all. Sides, we should at least see this idol group." Hibiki said, putting on a smile as Cody began to relax.

"I… suppose so." He said in agreement.

"Hey, I know you don't like being in super large crowds. But I'm here, ok?" Hibiki reminded him as she did her best to make a smile to relieve him of his stress.

Cody could only smile back softly as he nodded, "Yeah… I guess so." He said with a nod.

* * *

Meanwhile, a young boy was tapping his foot impatiently for something backstage.

He had silver hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a normal navy blue suit with a strange gun holster on the side of his belt.

"Go to the concert the old man said, you need to stretch your legs he said…" he grumbled to himself in a Brooklyn accent, "Yeah, we'll see about that you piece of-"

"Language!" a voice called out to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Standing nearby was a young woman, in her mid-teens, with messy red hair and a cloak over her body, keeping what seemed to be an outfit secret. She had a bit of a tomboy nature to her, as she had a soft smirk on her face.

"You know that uncle wouldn't like you shooting off that potty mouth of yours, bro…" she told him as he visibly rolled his eyes

"Can't you just try to be nicer to him, Kanade?" Another voice called out, as another cloaked woman came out, but she had long blue hair, in the shape of a musical note, but she seemed a bit more meek than Kanade.

"You know I can't Tsubasa, even if he's my brother." Kanade Amou responded, "Gotta keep him on his toes at all times."

She soon smirked, "Ain't that right Balto?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep yanking on my chain…" the boy , Balto Asimov, grumbled.

Kanade had a soft frown as she walked over to him, hugging him gently, "I know you still don't feel like that, since we're not related by blood. But I assure you, you are a brother to me, and one I'll stick by no matter what."

The boy soon sighed, "I'll hold you to that. If not, then I'll be dragging you out of whatever afterlife there is myself…"

"Heh, I can't argue with that." She winked playfully, "Now, get to your vip seat. We need to get ready."

"Right." He nodded softly.

"Just wait, I promise that we'll treat you to something later. So don't go anywhere, pupper." She said with a wink, using the nickname he hates to hear.

"Don't you dare call me by that name!" he barked, no pun intended, "It's embarrassing!"

"Aw, why not? You would be a cute dog." Kanade teased with a giggle. However the boy was just red in the face at the nickname with fury in his eyes.

"Stop teasing me like that, woman! I hate it when you treat me like a stupid child!" the boy shouted at the top of his lungs before storming off, hands in his pockets.

"H-Hey! Balto!" Kanade tried to call out, but he was out of sight as she sighed. "Guess I went too far again, huh?"

Tsubasa merely slapped her palm onto her face, "Come on… we can talk to him later."

* * *

Back at the seating area, Hibiki and Cody were moving through the crowd to find their seats. Both of them with glow sticks as they soon find where they were seated, as they took their seats within the stadium.

"Man… this place is packed." Cody muttered, "This Zwei Wing group must be very popular."

"Yeah, at least we get to see what makes them so popular?" Hibiki smiled.

Soon the inner lights of the stadium began to dim, as the crowd went quiet. In moments, light poured down onto the two idols, wearing a very angelic, feathery dress for their performance as they began to sing. The two friends cracked their glow sticks as they waved them a bit, even though they were starting to get involved with the beat of the music.

As the two idols sang and danced, the ceiling of the stadium lit up before breaking apart to reveal the sunset while they sun, making it a very beautiful scene as they continued on while the crowd, who knew the songs as well sang with the duet, making it a very chilling yet amazing atmosphere.

While the song continued to play, Cody noticed that Hibiki was having the time of her life, occasionally singing along when she could. This put a large smile on his face before returning his focus to the concert at hand.

Finally as the song completed, Tsubasa stood in front of Kanade, turned her back and then dropped onto her knee. The two raised their hands to the sky in a prayer-esque stance.

The crowd soon erupt into applause, as everyone cheered for the duet, including the two teens who were new to this. It was an amazing event as they knew there was more to come. They at least knew after the concert, they'll buy their cds at the kiosk.

* * *

Meanwhile, under the stadium….

Deep below the structure was a group of people, not only viewing the performance, but also using whatever data was revealed. Many were typing away as others watched. But past the screens and more was a set of devices gathered around what looked to be some kind of fossilized vines and armor.

"How goes the Phonic-Gain?" One person asked, as he looked at the screens of data.

"Everything seemed to go as planned… Phonic-Gain growth seems to be within the expected range" a female scientist noted before turning towards two other people. The first was a burly man with red hair and a maroon shirt, while the other was a tall woman with violet eyes and a brown beehive hairstyle.

"We may have enough to go to the next phase, sir?" Another female researcher relayed, as she typed away on the computer.

"Make it so." He nodded as they soon began to initiate a series of tests on the computer as they monitored the armor.

"Hey, do you think it was a good idea to let Balto watch over the girls?" the woman asked the man, "You know how antsy he is about leaving the base..."

"I'm sure of it, this will help give him some fresh air instead of being stuck in that training room everyday." He nodded in response.

"I can already hear him grumbling and cursing your name…" she sighed, "I just wished that he would calm down for a moment…"

"He is still a kid though. He needs to learn and grow." He responded back, "Besides, I can't consider myself his guardian if I don't give him some tough love."

The woman soon smiled as they returned their gaze towards the experiment. After a while, things seemed to shape up just fine.

"Looks like we can call this a success-"

"Sir?! We have company!" The woman on the computer screen said, a pale look on her face as she turned to them, "We're detecting Noise as well as Magia on the systems."

"Seriously?!" the man said as he shook his head, "Of course it wouldn't be that easy…"

But before the man could even move, an earthquake shook the compound. As the fossilized relic began to react and glow.

"It's activating?!" He got out, only for a blinding light to encompass the secret area.

* * *

Backstage, Balto was watching the concert when he heard an explosion go off.

"What the hell?!" he gasped as he spotted several multicolored creatures begin to enter the arena. "Oh crap, not these things again!"

He soon ran out and took out a large black and blue pistol from his holster, firing off several shots that destroyed some of the monsters in his path.

"Everyone, evacuate the premises! Women and children first!" he shouted as he popped off a few more shots at the beasts.

The staff who heard responded as some got to work to start the sirens to inform the audience, while others began to run away. Yet for those who were leaving, several shots were fired off before some either collapsed dead or injured. From the other side, robotic enemies rushed in, aiming at the people and firing.

"_**aLL fOr thE WiLl oF tHe ARk!"**_

The extra invaders were mostly black with metal scraps and pipes making up their bodies, with their faces being covered up by a trilobite-like mask.

"Magia?!" Balto gawked, "You gotta be kidding me!"

These enemies were known as Magia, invaders with the power to corrupt HumaGears that seemed to be following some program. They were soon a main enemy to the world along with the monsters.

These other entities were known as Noise. Unknown creatures that were almost invincible and can turn any living material into ash. Both of these groups were dangerous and would attack at random. And sadly, this was their next target.

"Well then, it looks like it's time to put all those years of training to good use!" he growled as a manic grin began to form on his face.

"_**aLL fOr thE WiLl oF tHe ARk!"**_

The Magia repeated before they continued their attack, while the Noise started to turn those it touched into ash.

Without wasting a second, Balto began charging towards the monsters, firing his pistol at whatever Noise was in his way while protecting the remaining civilians.

When one of the Magia tried to land a punch on him, the boy merely slid in between their legs and fired off a shot into their back.

Once he got up, he soon began firing at any enemy that moved until he was the only one standing as the people he was protecting had successfully evacuated the area.

However before he could leave, Balto soon noticed a critically damaged Magia grip his leg, unintentionally putting itself in front of his guns' barrel.

"_**aLL fOr thE WiLl oF tHe ARk..."**_

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, you bucket of bolts…" he growled before pulling the trigger, destroying the machine in an instant.

* * *

Meanwhile outside of the stadium, as the sirens cued off, the people began to try and escape. But upon the Magia shooting down anyone they find, or the Noise turning anyone they touch to ash, it became too chaotic as people were shoving and pushing others away as they tried to escape or find shelter. It was a brutal sight.

"We need to stop them!" Kanade shouted, unable to watch this any more as she started to run out, but was stopped by her partner.

"We can't, Kanade! We weren't given orders to change and fight." Tsubasa stopped her friend, "Once we find the commander, we can ask for permission!"

However they soon heard several gunshots in the distance as they spotted several Magia being taken down by Balto in the stands. "Come on! I've seen androids who can fight better than you!" he shouted with glee as he shot down another Noise.

"Balto?! Where did he get that!?" Tsubasa gasped before realizing something. Kanade however recognized the look of the gun, "The ShotRiser…"

"That idiot! I thought we told him, he isn't ready for that yet!" she growled but sighed, "Either way, at least we have some chance."

"Kanade?"

"Tsubasa, we have the power to save these people. Forget rules for now. Let's just fly!" Kanade said to her before jumping off the stage.

**Crotizall Ronzell Gungnir zillz…**

As music began to play out from her body, Kanade had begun to transform, gaining a white, black, and orange suit with black thigh high boots, a pair of bulky gauntlets on her wrist, and a pair of rabbit-like headphones.

This caused the Noise that were starting to converge at Balto to change color and turn their attention towards the red head.

"Wait, the heck?" The young boy asked in confusion before noticing Kanade running towards the Noise, bringing her hands together to create a white and orange spear with a red glass center.

"Kanade… damn it!" He growled, not wanting to see her in that suit again as he began to fire upon the Magia. After taking down a few more monsters, the two turned to each other with an annoyed expression.

"Balto Asimov, just what do you think you're doing?!" she said in a disciplinary tone.

"I can ask you the same thing!" He shouted back, "I thought you promised you wouldn't use that relic for a month! You still haven't recovered from the last time you used it!"

"Don't change the subject! You're not supposed to use that gun! You're still not prepared enough!" She argued as she slashed down a few Noise.

"Well do you have a better idea!" he growled before shooting past Kanade, hitting a nearby Magia in the process.

"Ugh… we're going to have a LONG talk after this is over. Just don't use that key, got it?!" She sighed in response before spearing through a few more Noise, only for one to lunge at her, only to be slashed as Tsubasa was now there, wearing her own suit, similar to Kanade, but blue and more sleek.

"Let's focus on dealing with them first!" Tsubasa shouted to the two, regaining their attention.

Focusing on the task at hand, Kanade began to run straight towards a group of Noise and Magia, cutting down several of them in the process. She then leaped into the air and threw down her spear, creating multiple copies of it that rained down on the enemies.

_**STARDUST∞FOTON**_

As for Tsubasa, she slashed and cut down the larger Noise, especially around the group of people who are trying to escape, giving them a way out. Of course she did forget about the Magia as they shot at her, but she retaliated as she rushed ahead and cut them to bits.

Finally Balto, while not like the two girls, was running around shooting any enemy that moved. Noticing a large battalion of Magia in front of him, he soon tossed out a large grenade and aimed his gun at it.

"Hot potato!" he shouted as he fired off a shot, blowing up the grenade and the robots along with them.

It was becoming very brutal to see as more monsters, Magia and Noise alike, were killing off many of the fleeing civilians in terrible ways, making it hard to even watch for a bystander who was hiding.

Cody though, was trying to get out, as he had Hibiki by her hand as they were up in the upper deck due to their seats. His heart beating in his ears as he was in utter terror, only able to think about getting out safely with her.

"C-Co-Come on… Hibiki… We need t-to keep moving…" He said to her, terror in his voice. She nodded as she did her best, but she too was in fear at this attack.

Back to the battle at hand, Kanade noticed the color of her suit was starting to fade away. "Shit, my suit's running out of power…"

In her frustration, she did not notice the frustration on her brother's face begin to rise. "This is getting ridiculous. The more of these things I shoot down, the more they regain their numbers…" he grumbled to himself, "If only I had the permission to use _that_…"

As he gripped something in his pocket, he noticed a Noise run straight for Cody and Hibiki.

"Kanade! We got more civilians" he shouted to his sister, but she wasn't responding, still busy with a group of Magia that had nearly ambushed her.

With the Noise inching closer and closer, Balto's fesr and worry grew and grew until he could not takit anymore. "Screw it!" he shouted as he ran past Kanade.

"Come on, come on!" he thought as he ran as fast as his legs could allow. "If I don't hurry up, then they'll die before Kanade can even do a thing!"

Taking out a blue cassette-like key that had a wolf imprinted on it. Thinking fast, he pressed the button before loading it into his gun like a...

**BULLET!**

_**AUTHORISE!**_

_**KAMEN, RIDER. KAMEN, RIDER. KAMEN, RIDER.**_

Sliding in between the two, he quickly slid the top part of his key and aimed his weapon at the monster. The boy then growled with a hushed tone, "Henshin…"

He soon fired a blue bullet that went straight through the Noise and right back to him.

_**SHOTRISE!**_

With a mighty punch, the boy broke the bullet as it transformed into several pieces of armor and atrached themselves to his body. Once the transformation completed, all of the built-up steam fron the bullet came out of the finished suit.

_**SHOOTING WOLF!**_

**[The elevation increases as the bullet is fired]**

He was now donned in a white and blue armor, with the blue mostly being on the right side. It also had some features and curves to resemble a wolf. The visor eyes of his helmet were slightly cupped and curved downward to resemble a wolf's gaze, while around the helmet had the furt points and ears of the creature.

"Vulcan, kenzan!" he shouted aloud as he aimed his gun at the nearby Magia and easily shot them down.

Kanade heard the call as she turned, her eyes widening in shock and horror that he would truly defy orders and her pleas and used the device he wasn't ready for. But she had to continue and focus on the enemies around her.

"You two okay?" Vulcan asked the two as they nodded.

"Y-Yeah…" Hibiki timidly said as the wolf Rider noticed several Noise coming for them.

"You two get out of here as fast as you can, we'll try to hold them off…" he told the two before running off and battling against the Noise.

"Come on, Hibiki…" Cody said, as the two were moving, but both were limping. The teens were injured, but luckily still able to move.

Tsubasa was slashing another Noise before she saw Vulcan punching down one of them, as she looked shocked as well. But shook her head, "Hope you have something that can deal with multiple enemies?" She questioned.

"Technically…" he noted as he took out a light blue suitcase and transformed it into some form of shotgun.

**[Attach Case opens to release the incredibly powerful shotgun]**

_**SHOTGUNRISE!**_

When a crowd of Magia began to charge at the trio, Vulcan fired off a powerful shot that took them out quickly before turning his gaze back towards Tsubasa

"Good. Just know, you're going to be grounded for a month after this." the swordswoman said in response, as she too was angry with him, but now wasn't the time for that.

"If I didn't then those two wouldn't have been attacked…" he said as he pointed his thumb at the escaping Cody and Hibiki. Tsubasa's face began to soften for a moment.

"Of course…" Tsubasa sighed, "Alright, make that two weeks…"

"Watch it!" Kanade cried out, lunging past the two and standing in front of the two fleeing teens as she spun her spear, as Noise let out a deadly attack. However while it connected and blocked, due to her weakened state, a part of her armor began to chip and crack before breaking apart.

Hibiki noticed this, as her eyes widened before she let go of Cody's hand and pushed him away as several shrapnels began to fly by, missing him… Only for them to strike her instead, hitting her in the chest and causing her to collapse.

Cody's face grew pale, his eyes widen in fear as a flashback from the moment he lost his parents appeared, only to be replaced when he sees Hibiki dropping to the ground. "HIBIKI!" He cried out to her, rushing to her side.

This alerted Kanade and Vulcan as they spotted several more Magia coming for them, "We gotta move, now!" He told them before running towards the two.

Kanade though, rushed to the two teens, holding her hand onto Hibiki's, "Oi! Don't give up! You can't die here! You need to live!" She shouted to Hibiki.

However as the group of killer robots were closing in at the three, Vulcan stepped in, aiming his shotgun at the battalion.

"I ain't letting you get one step near them!" he shouted as he activated an aquamarine key as it had a picture of a hedgehog on it.

**REVOLVER!**

Once he loaded it up into the compartment of his shotgun, Vulcan aimed the weapon at the incoming hoard and began firing a volley of hedgehog quills at the machines.

_**GATLING KABAN SHOT!**_

Kanade could only watch, as she looked at the Magia her brother was busy fighting off, then at the Noise still in the stadium. They were being overwhelmed, and they needed to be taken care of. She soon stood up as she smiled softly at the others.

"Alright, time for the finale!" he growled before pressing the button.

**BULLET!**

As he began to aim his weapon, he suddenly dropped it as he cried out in pain and clutched his chest. The wolf Rider soon fell to his knees as he continued to wail in agony.

Kanade walked over to Vulcan, as she tugged the key out of the pistol, reverting the teen back to normal.

"Balto! Kanade!" Tsubasa cried out as she rushed towards the two.

"Tsubasa? Take care of him. Okay?" She requested the bluenette as she began to walk to the horde.

"No...I can still...fight…" Balto tried to protest as he tried to get up before falling back down.

"You've done enough… But even though you disobeyed us, I'm… so proud of you." Kanade said, only to strike his neck, knocking the teen out.

"What the hell was that for?" Tsubasa asked her, wondering why she did that.

"I don't want him to see this…" She said, before holding up her spear as she began to glow.

_**Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal**_

_**Emustolronzen Finé el balal zizzl**_

_**Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal**_

_**Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl**_

"No...don't tell me…" she whimpered, "STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO-"

Tsubasa soon stopped as she heard Balto grumble, causing her to look at him with a horrified expression.

"Wha? What's going…" Balto grumbled before hearing that song.

Soon, the energy and glow around Kanade began to surge out, only for a powerful shockwave rushed outward, hitting every Magia and Noise in the stadium, as it swiftly destroyed and turned them into only pieces before being evaporated by the energy.

Kanade had just used the forbidden move that she and the others knew, the Superb Song. However this move came at a price, as the girl collapsed on the ground and began crumbling away from the backlash of the attack.

"Kanade!" Tsubasa cried out, rushing to her side. Kanade couldn't respond, as she simply gave a loving smile, before she too faded and began ash within Tsubasa's arms.

This day, was known as the Terror of Angels by the people. So many people have died or gone missing from it, including the famous Kanade Amou of Zwei Wing. But this was also the beginning of something that will change the world, forever…..

* * *

_**(Insert Op Song - Heroes - Ryota Fujimaki - Zero and Geed Chronicles)**_

* * *

The song starts with an instrumental, as various multicolored ones and zeros begin to rain down from the sky before transforming into a stampede of multicolored robotic animals, all lead by a yellow robotic grasshopper, running through a hexagonal tunnel of sound. Once the grasshopper leaped through an orange ring of sound, it soon transformed into the series title

_**[Hikari no naka de, Yami ga umarete, Ookiku hakari wo, Kuzushiteshimau toki]**_

It soon jumps to Cody watching the clouds go by. As he gets up, he is greeted by Hibiki and Miku, who are happily waiting for him. However when he walks towards them, they are spied on by Yua, who is recording data for Gai.

_**[Yamiyo ni sakebi, Chi wo hau monotachi, Machi wa kirisakare, Kizuna wa tatareru]**_

As it soon shifts, we enter a firing range at night, where Balto is practicing his aim. As he takes off the protective gear, he turns to see Tsubasa and as the two walk by each other, the ghost of Kanade appears between them as they share a glance of animosity and regret between them.

_**[Zero ni naru kakugo wa aru ka, Shimei wo eranda senshitachi]**_

It shifts once more first to Genjuro looking through a window as he stares at various screens about Gungnir, Ame-no-Habakiri, as well as data on Shooting Wolf, before transitioning into Gai watching the data for Rising Hopper with a wicked grin. Finally, it jumps to Fine, who is preparing three figures, later shown to be Chris, Horobi, Jin, and Raiden for battle.

_**[Sakete wa toorenu tatakai e, Hikari wo obite, Mae e mae e mae e..]**_

As the four rush into battle, they are confronted by an army of Noise and Magia walking towards them. With each of them ready for battle, the girls begin to sing their song while the boys activated their Progrise Keys. Once they did so, a bright light began to shine onto them as they were transformed.

_**[Susume bokura no hero... Asahi ni inori akatsuki ni chikau. Heiwa no kane wo... Narase hero...]**_

Cody, now as Zero-One Rising Hopper charges into battle, punching and cutting down any monster in his way, as Hibiki runs in behind, mowing down more enemies before the two stop, looking at the three members of in their Rider forms along with Chris in the Nehushtan Armor, before the two turn to one another, holding hands as they stand their ground, ready to take them on. As they charge in, their other allies of Tsubasa, Vulcan, and those who follow him join their lead.

_**[Bokura wa anata kara, Hontou no yuki o shiru]**_

As they fight the monsters, images of new forms shown behind Cody, namely the Biting Shark, Flaming Tiger, and Freezing Bear form. Afterwards, the same happens to Balto, revealing the Gatling Hedgehog, Punching Kong, and Trapping Spider forms. Once they stand together, a projection of the Breaking Mammoth and Charging Elasmoth mechas appear in their place.

_**[Tataeyo our hero, Tataeyo our hero~]**_

The two Riders charge alongside Hibiki and Tsubasa, their bodies beginning to shine as they leap into battle and create an explosion of light. Once the light fades, it soon shows a young Cody meeting Hibiki as their teenage selves appeared in their shadows.

* * *

_Two Years Later…._

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Ugh…five more minutes…" Cody groaned softly, wanting to sleep more as he did his best to ignore the sound, having been used to it and only hears it as white noise nowadays. But, in moments, the bed jolted up, launching the young teen out of it and onto the floor, making him groan out.

_**Presented by ZAIA**_

"I know already…" He groaned out from the automated message that came from the device that launched him out of bed.

He got up this time as he began to dress up for the day. It's been two years since the incident that happened within the Zwei Wing concert. So many people died and went missing… including Cody himself. He was basically taken in by Zaia, the leading technology and system company in the world.

He was told that he was the only survivor of that day, leaving him almost empty and alone as he couldn't bear to face Miku and beg for forgiveness for allowing Hibiki to die that day. They only brought him in not just because of that, but also to have him repay the debt he owed them since humane rescue wasn't part of the Zaia Enterprise contract, making him an employee there but also an asset for them to use. Since then, he's been working non-stop in their activities and job he was assigned to.

"Good morning, Cody-sama." A voice called to him as it entered the room. Standing by the door was a female HumaGear. It was dressed formally with white and green coloring with a green and black bow on its collar. She had short hair along with the data-code on her hand and the unique Ver. 3 HumaGear Module earpiece. She was Izu, and basically Cody's guardian and also helper that was assigned to him by Gai.

"Morning, Izu…" Cody said, standing up as she handed the teen something tea to wake him up. "Yua and Gai couldn't be here again?"

"Indeed. For now, you are to go on patrol and find any remnants of Magia and Rogue HumaGear to take down." Izu informed him, while she held up a briefcase that contained his gear.

"Roger that." He nodded softly. That was his job, to take down Magia and rogue HumaGear that he finds. Gai wanted to erase any rogue AI's and more from the downfall of Hiden, so many years ago before Zaia bought the rest of the company.

He was unsure why since the production of HumaGear is barely around anymore. Some still remain, only because of Gai wanting to keep Hiden's dream somewhat alive. But since that downfall, you wouldn't see that many HumaGear left besides the ones in media, harsher jobs and the ones that go rogue. For now, this was his job, and he had no choice but to fulfil it.

* * *

Later that night, there was a Noise attack which was led by a beetle-like Magia. As the monster roared it soon noticed several soldiers and tanks trying to destroy it and the other Noise. "Grr, conventional weapons really don't work against either of them?" one of the soldiers yelled in annoyance. Suddenly, they heard someone singing...

**Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron…**

When they looked up to see where the sounds were coming from, a large helicopter flew in and dropped off Tsubasa and Balto as they donned their Symphogear and Rider armor respectively.

_**SHOOTING WOLF!**_

Once the two warriors entered the fray, the Noise soon changed colors while the locust Magia simply roared at the two heroes. "Heh, this one seems to be based on a Tatum Cave beetle..." Vulcan chose to relay to Tsubasa, who gave him a nod to confirm.

"It seems so…" she noted, "Vulcan, cooperate with Section 1 for now. Let's see what that Magia is capable of..." Genjuro relayed to the boy on the com link built into his helmet, "Yes sir!" he replied.

At once, he began to engage with the Magia, dodging it's charging attack with a combat roll, before returning fire. Meanwhile Tsubasa began performing windmills while the blades on her legs cutting through several Noise.

_**REVERSE RAKSHASA**_

The two then charged at one of the larger Noise and performed two attacks, one where Tsubasa unleashed a powerful blue electric slash, and the other where Vulcan fired off several flaming wolf heads to attack the monster.

_**BLUE FLASH**_

_**SHOOTING BLAST!**_

As the two landed and the Noise exploded, they soon turned their attention to the lone Magia standing in their way. With not that many troops left, the beetle Magia proceeded to fire off a series of wires that hacked into the soldier Humagear that were with there, converting them into Trilobite Magia.

"I got this…" Vulcan noted as he took out the hedgehog key from before and activated it.

**REVOLVER!**

With the Progrise Key in place, he fired off the shot that killed several Magia before he kicked it away, allowing the armor to reconfigure itself into a brand new form.

_**SHOTRISE!**_

_**GATLING HEDGEHOG!**_

**[Infinite spines shoot towards the enemy]**

The armor itself replaced the blue furry 'tuffs' around the center mask with light green spikes around the pieces of armor that resemble a hedgehog. On top of that, Vulcan gained two arm-mounted gatling guns oun each of his forearms while a strap of bullets stretched out on the shoulders and thighs.

"Alright, you bastard… Come at me!" he roared as he pointed his arms at the Magia, provoking it to charge once more. Without hesitation, the wolf rider began to rain spike-shaped bullets on the monster, damaging its arms and wings as it flew past the two and into a tree.

As the machine began to recover, he was soon met with Vulcan, who was flying towards him using the gatling guns as makeshift rockets. "DIEEEEE!" he roared as he pulled the trigger on the ShotRiser.

_**ガ**_

_**ト**_

_**リ**_

_**ン**_

_**グ**_

_**ブ**_

_**ラ**_

_**ス**_

_**ト**_

Once he reached the Magia, he began to spin violently before drilling a hole through the machine and landing on the other side.

_**G**_

_**A**_

_**T**_

_**L**_

_**I**_

_**N**_

_**G **_

_**BLAST!**_

_**FEVER!**_

The rain of bullets and spines flew out, striking the Magia all around him, only for an explosion to erupt from it, leaving them in ashes and dust along with the destroyed key used to create the killer robot.

With a snort, Vulcan growled from under his breath, "Good riddance…"

After getting up, Vulcan soon cancelled his transformation, only to sigh heavily. In the two years since his sister's death, Balto felt like he'd rather keep fighting these monsters and machines until he was satisfied, to which he never is.

Tsubasa, already have taken out the Noise as she too changed back to normal. But she still seemed to be cold and unfeeling ever since Kanade died. It hurt more as she blamed Balto for her death as she walked past him, only to give him a cold glare before heading out.

Likewise, Banto merely looked to the stars above, watching them twinkle as he put his hands in his pockets. He soon shook off those thoughts as he joined Tsubasa as the two helped the soldiers recover from the recently diffused attack.

"Well done, you two. Once you're done, come back to base and rest." Genjuro said on the comms as he hoped to try and diffuse any tension the two have.

"Roger that…" Balto responded as he called on his ride, a large rhino-themed vehicle decked in on black and grey. As he got in, he soon turned to his partner, who had just dis-engaged her own transformation. "Hey, you getting in yet?" he asked the girl, giving the girl a ghost of a smile, "It's a school night ya know…"

"I have my own duties. Stick with yours as well." Tsubasa huffed, as she got on her bike and drove off. She truly was still upset as she either barely answers or just glares at him. At least today she responded with words rather than her eyes.

That day truly changed everyone. So many lost and gone, while others were still alive, but they were suffering from the losses. Even two young girls, while one of them was injured, they both lost their friend.

"Kanade, what would you do in this situation?" he asked as he tried to think about what his sister would have done differently. Much like Tsubasa, who was still mourning Kanade's death, Balto felt the most responsible for her sister's death. As he began to lean on the steering wheel, his mind soon began to drift back to a year ago...

* * *

_FLASHBACK..._

"_Sir, permission to speak?" Balto asked Genjuro, whom he was currently sparring with in the time since the Terror of Angels incident._

"_If it's about your suspension for disobeying us not to use that system? It's still happening" he told him as they were resting in between rounds. _

"_Actually, I was thinking of something more severe…" the young soldier solemnly asked, Genjuro quickly catching on to what the boy wanted._

"_I rather not fire you, if that's what you want?" he swiftly responded._

"_What? Fire me?! Oh come on uncle! You think I would-" Balto tried to say in hopes of changing the subject but Genjuro knew he was trying to cover up his true feelings._

"_Balto, while I understand that you're still hung up about that day, I am NOT giving you a chance to slink off and take your own life like a coward!" he growled, "Don't think this is the last time you've pulled this stunt before!"_

"_But sir! Look what I've done!" Balto shouted, "If I hadn't acted so stupidly that day, there would have been less casualties!"_

"_Regardless of what happened, you were able to save the other people who had escaped and laid below the building." Genjuro stated, "Were you reckless and stupid? Yes, but you still managed to do something good in spite of that."_

"_But at what cost?" the young soldier grumbled as he slumped down, regretting every word he had shouted at Kanade before she died, "If I'm honest, I feel like demoting me to janitor work wouldn't pay for what I've done on that day…"_

_Genjuro sighed. He didn't want to lose him because of what he promised Kanade. However he knew this was also making him suffer more as well. "Fine… I have something that was recommended to me, by my brother…"_

"_What of it?" he asked him, glancing back to Genjuro while not moving an inch._

"_He said… that maybe having you as Tsubasa's partner would be the best choice?" Genjuro informed, "You both need help and need one another. If you need to move on, this is the only way left. It's either that, or you'll be transferred to A.I.M.S for insubordination."_

_Balto was silent, possibly mulling over his answer before sighing and getting up. He soon turned towards him and accepted his offer. This put a smile on the man's face, maybe this will be the first step in the healing process for the both of them._

_FLASHBACK ENDS_

* * *

With his self-reflection over, Balto soon pumped the gas pedal and drove off to catch up with his partner. The two soon arrived at the HQ of Section 2, greeted by their co-workers as one of them hands them something warm to drink and relax to.

"Hey there kid…" a voice called out to him. It was a young man a bit older than he was, with short brown hair and hazel eyes. "Hey there Ogawa…" Balto answered

"You doing ok?" the manager of Tsubasa asked, patting his shoulder gently. The two were also close, as he was basically like a brother to Balto, and the young man treated him the same way.

"Tsubasa actually spoke for once" Balto said, trying to act like how he used to be two years ago, "But other than that, we just took down another Magia...Dang, these things have been popping up more and more lately…"

"It is surprising…." Ogawa noted, "At first, we did suspect Zaia, since they are the only ones producing HumaGear. But we found nothing, as the last one that was produced in awhile was meant for janitor duties and we found no traces of hacks or corrupted data files to turn them into Magia. Meaning someone else out there is creating them."

"And Metsubojinrai's been quiet recently…" Balto remembered, "You think they could be planning something big?"

"Could be. There's no other way other than them." Ogawa nodded.

Ever since the turning of the decade awhile ago, a new terrorist group emerged, naming themselves . Somehow, they were comprised of only HumaGear and Magia. It was unknown how or why, but it was easy to deduce that they were dangerous. Causing massive attacks and casualties since then and have become the main source of Magia attacks.

"Either way, we should keep our eyes open on any lead, in case they ever decide to slip up…" Balto noted as he went towards his room.

* * *

The next day...

"According to the Self-Defence Force and Special Disaster Response Team, the guided evacuation has been completed and damage was held to a minimum, or at least so they say" Miku said as she read the news on her phone while the rest ate their breakfast.

"Man, hearing about the news from yesterday's Magia and Noise attack." Hibiki shivered. "I know, and it wasn't too far from here" Miku reminded her.

After the accident, Hibiki was found to barely survive thanks to the intervention of Vulcan, who was looked at by many as another who held the title of Kamen Rider, alongside one known as Ichigata who dealt with the remnants of the Noise attack.

They too learned about the many casualties and missing people. But what shook them to their core was the fact that their friend, Cody, was also gone. A year of searching and they found his belongings in a fire. Many, including others who knew him, suspected he too died.

Miku tried to hold on, but over time she too had to let go and accept his death. And yet, Hibiki seems to be the only one who has some sense that he's still alive somewhere. Her over positivity and kind nature wouldn't submit to the idea he was dead as almost every day she would go out, give fliers on his whereabouts and search for him, unwilling to give up.

During this time, they were able to get accepted into Lydian Private Music Academy, a once all-girls school dedicated to music before the decision was made a year ago to allow male students into the school.

"Oh, did you hear?" Hibiki asked her excitedly, "There's been rumors of another Rider like Ichigata and Vulcan fighting against the Noise and !"

"You sure it was them, Hibiki?" Miku questioned, "Remember that fake photo you saw?" She reminded her friend of that mistake and was almost tricked in losing her funds by some scammers. Hibiki chuckled as she remembered that incident; Needless to say, she had her allowance cut off for a month as a result.

"It's not my fault! I swear they were telling the truth." Hibiki pouted from that reminder. "Besides, I got a good feeling that this time, I'll find him."

"That's what you always say when you're talking about this so-called Zero-One…" Miku sighed. As much as she loved Hibiki, even she had to admit that the way she talked about them was starting to get tiresome after a while.

Another rumor that was spreading was about another Kamen Rider outside of the two more known individuals, known as Zero-One. Hibiki swore that what she saw was Cody being a hero. Yet without any evidence of that or even the existence of this hero, proved otherwise.

"I'm telling you, that he has to be! He did the same self-pointing pose that Cody did!" Hibiki proclaimed.

"Are you sure you weren't seeing things?" Miku questioned her friend. However before she could answer, they heard some chatter from the female and few male students there.

"Oh sweet, it's Tsubasa!"

Nearby, the idol was there. She was the major talk of the academy, as upon gaining her addition, opened their doors not only for more students, but also testing out and allowing male students to enter the school as well.

"Hey, woah woah woah! Back off people!" another voice said as Balto arrived and began to disperse the masses, "Come on guys, Nothing new to see here. Just keep to your routines as usual!"

"Seems her guarddog is here too…" One male student muttered loudly with a snicker. Before they could laugh however as they saw a plastic knife fly at them and embed itself into the table. They soon noticed that Balto was glaring at them while throwing and catching another plastic knife in his hand, causing them to silence their chatter as he backed off.

"Ohh~, Tsubasa-san and Balto-san are so cool!" Hibiki squealed with delight.

"Yeah, but he can be a bit scary at times…" Miku admitted.

"Oh, he's just doing his job. I bet he's a very sweet guy. I just know these things from people." Hibiki smiled.

"With the celebrity aura they give off, they're hard to approach you know? They're like royals on a pedestal" Miku reminded her friend.

"That just means they're people you haven't befriended yet." Hibiki said, "I know I'll get a chance someday!"

She soon remembered something as she got up from her table. "Hm? Where are you going?" Miku questioned before she saw her walking towards Tsubasa and Balto.

"Just… something I need to do…" Hibiki reassured her before she headed off, leaving Miku confused and concerned.

"Just come back, ok?" Miku muttered as the girl walked upto the two as they were waiting in line to get their lunch.

"U-um…" she tried to say, sadly for her she was visibly shaking due to the aura of mystique about her...and the fact that she noticed Balto's resting bitch face staring right at her.

"If you're also asking for her autograph like the others? The answer is no." Balto stated to her.

"I-It's not that…" she said, "It's just…"

That was when the blue haired singer soon motioned to the corner of their mouth, prompting her to where she was pointing and saw a few grains of rice on her face.

"You have something on your face" she said to them before she and Balto walked a bit further down the line.

"Biki? You okay?" One of her other friends asked as they saw her paled, yet embarrassed face.

"Awww, I blew it…" Hibiki sighed, "They must think I have mental problems"

"I'm sure they were just busy." Miku reassured, "At least she didn't wave you off like others."

"Yeah but, dangit! I wish I could have just thanked her for saving me instead of freeze up like a dunce!" she groaned as she flopped onto her bed.

"You'll get your chance someday." Miku smiled, patting her friend's head in an effort to console her.

Thinking up something to cheer herself up, Hibiki soon remembered something off the top of her head. "Wait, Isn't Tsubasa's new CD coming out today?"

"I think it is." Miku noted. "Though, since she's here, why do you insist on getting it? Besides, aren't CDs a thing of the past though?"

"You can never have something as satisfying as something like physical media!" Hibiki beamed, "Especially when you can use it to get autographs and make them priceless."

"In that case, they're probably sold out as we speak." Miku noted as Hibiki quickly bolted off to try and get to the music store as fast as she could. "Wait! *sighs* Oh Hibiki…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Cody has been doing the rounds as he rode his through the streets. The bike itself was a Honda CRF450L with a black and highlighter green color scheme, made to resemble that of a grasshopper's antennae as it even had a hightech design to it. This was his bike, the Rise Hopper.

"No sign of activity here…" he noted as he looked around, as he seemed to be ready to call it a day. But before he could drive back, he heard a beep in his comms, "Izu? What's up?"

"Cody-sama, there seems to be a Magia in your location, Berotha-type" the HumaGear informed him.

"How far and what sector?" Cody questioned her, "2 Miles northwest, near the powerplant of Sector D." Izu noted.

"Powerplant? Huh… they never took on one of those before." Cody noted.

"There's more. It seems that there's another signal similar to yours heading towards where the Magia is situated at…" the assistant also told him as he noticed a second blip appear on the map.

"Must be the wolf boy again..." Cody sighed, "I think I can just let him take care of it this time."

However before he could drive off, he spotted something at the corner of his eye making him pull a full stop. His eyes widened as he felt his body shake softly with shock yet relief.

"Hi...Hibiki…?" He got out as he saw her running away with a young girl… only for Noise to follow them. He could only rev his bike as he chased after them.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

_A mysterious hooded figure was hanging around the powerplant, watching as the humans and HumaGear working there went about their daily routine. One HumaGear in particular was on his break after a long day of work, doing some stretches a good distance away from the rest._

_"Heh, you'll do…" he noted as he got up and walked towards him. As the HumaGear was about to get back to work, the hooded figure punched him in the gut before slapping on a strange silver device onto his waist._

_"GAAAAHH!" he cried out as he turned towards his attacker, "Who...Who are you?"_

_"Don't worry, it'll all be over soon…" the man stated as he saw the headphones for the HumaGear change from blue to red._

_"Connection to established…"_

_"Good, now let's send these meatbags a message…" he told the newly hacked Humagear as he handed him a Progrise Key-like device_

_**BEROTHA!**_

_The hacked HumaGear inserted it into the device before pressing on it, as wires connected and cracked the key._

_**ZETSUMARISE!**_

_Pipes, wires and more spewed out from the HumaGear as it lost it's human skin-shell, only to warp, twist and change into a robotic Praying mantis, as it howled out before charging in._

* * *

'_How…. how is she alive?' _the boy thought, '_Gai told me she died!_' He questioned his thoughts as he continued to chase after them.

As he followed them, he saw that they were heading for the same powerplant that the Berotha Magia was stated to be attacking. Sure enough, he spotted Vulcan engaging the enemy every step of the way.

Cody stopped as he shook his head, 'While I would rather avoid that guy, seeing Hibiki in danger? I needed to help her. I won't lose her again, not this time.'

He soon took out a device, that was black with some highlight green on it, as he strapped it on his waist, forming a belt. He soon brought out a Progrise Key, depicting a grasshopper as he pressed the button before scanning it.

**JUMP!**

_**AUTHORISE!**_

Soon a scan of data appeared before him, revealing some suit as from above, a beam of light fell down to him. But it expanded and shaped into that of a grasshopper as it landed in front of him. He flicked the key as it extended and revealed the inner workings of it before calling out….

"Henshin!"

At once, he then inserted the key into the driver.

_**PROGRISE!**_

_**JUMP! TOBE-GA RISE!**_

_**RISING HOPPER!**_

_**[A Jump to the sky, turns into a Rider kick.]**_

The data suit soon applied itself onto the young teen, as he gained a black bodysuit with red and silver linings. But the grasshopper soon jumped behind him, before splitting apart as it became data and applied to the suit, gaining the highlight green onto him as it shaped into said grasshopper motif.

Compared to Vulcan's more militaristic look, Zero-One seemed to be more sleek and menacing. He soon hopped off of the bike, soaring through the air at high speeds due to the Key's power and ability, only to kick the Noise that was about to approach Hibiki and the girl.

* * *

"Genjuro-san! We have another Rider signal!" one of the bridge bunnies at the base told the man.

"Who's is it?" He asked, demanding some answers.

The members of Section 2 worked onto their computers, trying to access data as much as they can, only for the screen to reveal the words on it.

[**ZERO-ONE**]

"Zero-One is there?!" He gawked, having known of this rider ever since the incident, he started cleaning up any mess of Magia they came across, making it harder to figure out who's behind 's attacks and more.

"Should we inform Vulcan to apprehend the target?" One questioned.

They soon noticed there was someone else, "Delay that order, we have civilians on the battlefield!" Genjuro stated as Tsubasa walked into the command center.

"What's going on?" the blue haired girl asked him.

"Seems Zero-One arrived at the scene with Vulcan… we also seem to have civilians there as well." Genjuro informed.

"Civilians?!" she gasped, this was starting to bring back some painful memories.

* * *

As Hibiki stood atop a building with the little girl, she was amazed when she saw the elusive Kamen Rider known as Zero-One was here. He stood there as he fended off any Noise who got close as she looked in awe and wonder.

"Hibiki…. Are… are you okay?" He asked, turning as she sees his red eyes.

"How, how do you know my name?" she asked before coming to the conclusion she was hoping for, "Is that you...Cody?" She thankfully got her answer when Zero-One took off his helmet to reveal the person who disappeared two years ago.

"I promise…. I won't abandon you again…" He said, looking back to the Noise and Magia, "There's only one person who can stop you… and that's me!" He said, pointing to himself with his thumb.

The Trilobite Magia in question soon changed their attention to the newcomer as Hibiki watched him fight. He was swift and strong, easily punching or kicking them into oblivion with ease. As the Noise tried to hurt him, he swatted them off as kicking through them easily destroyed the monsters.

However, while both Riders were busy with the Magia, the Noise were starting to close in on the two, something Zero-One noticed as he tried to stop them, but Vulcan shot his feet.

"You're not getting anywhere near them, Zero-One!" He growled, turning his attention to the rider as he began to fight him.

"Just leave me be! I need to save her!" Zero-One pleaded.

This confused Vulcan until he turned towards where the grasshopper Rider was looking at, spotting two civilians cowering in fear as the Berotha Magia began to approach them.

The two Riders tried to get to them, but the Trilobite Magia and Noise were preventing them from reaching the two in time.

"Hibiki!" Zero-One shouted in terror, as he felt like everything was moving slowly. He was going to lose her again, something he couldn't bear to do.

'No, this can't be happening… I can't die here...' Hibiki thought as she was backed into a corner, 'No…I won't let that happen. I…I…' She shouted out, "I won't give up!"

...

**Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron…**

Suddenly, a bright orange light soon erupted from Hibiki's scar after she sang the last note. This bright light soon caught the attention of both Riders and the Berotha Magia as they all turned towards where the new light was coming from.

* * *

"We're detecting a different high-output energy than that of the monsters or the Riders!" one of the operators relayed to Genjuro and the others as they watched the light onscreen, "Identifying the signal…"

"Could this be…an Aufwachenschalgen?!" Sakurai exclaimed. "We've identified the signal!" another operator shouted. Suddenly a single word appeared on screen.

**[GUNGNIR]**

"That's impossible! Gungnir!?" Genjuro gasped. This was too much of a coincidence for a signal similar to Gungnir to appear. This was enough for Tsubasa to rush out and head towards the area as soon as possible.

* * *

Back with Cody, he began to witness his friend transform, but not into a Kamen Rider like himself or Vulcan.

Rather, she began to be overtaken by several pieces of armor before the transformation completed itself. She was now in an orange and white bodysuit that left her stomach open, a pair of black metal boots, white and orange metal gloves, and a pair of black and white headphones.

Wha-what happened to me?" she asked Cody to which he responded, "Well how should I know?!"

"Onee-chan, you look so cool!" the little girl said in amazement, snapping the two out of their daze and reminding them of their current situation

Hibiki then nodded as he got the girl and held onto her, while Hibiki started to sing. '_That's right…' _she thought to herself, '_I don't know what's happening, but the one thing I'm sure of is…I have to save them, right?'_

She soon leaped forward alongside the trio and began to try and escape the Noise, fighting off the Berotha Magia and it's troops whenever possible. A few Noise lunged at her, as Hibiki turned to protect the small child, as the Noise struck Hibiki, yet she didn't turn into ash or anything, infact they weren't even damaging her.

Hibiki realized this before she swung her arm, and easily cut through the Noise, destroying them as well. This of course, surprised her and the two riders as she had that same armor as Kanade from long ago.

"Well Zero-One, looks like today's your lucky day…" Vulcan noted, "Because our goals have just aligned. Come on!" He soon ran off and returned his focus onto the battle at hand.

While on the outside, the wolf Rider was just as stoic as ever, inside he was crying tears of relief and joy.

'_That's sis's relic, it still lives!'_ he thought in his mind as a big grin began to form on his face, '_I guess she's still keeping people safe even after she left this world…'_

Zero-One on the other hand was still surprised that Hibiki was able to fight off the Noise and Magia. But relieved as well as he didn't have to worry as that armor would protect her. He soon turned his attention to the Berotha Magia, as he lunged and kicked the cyber-monster away, dealing with him instead.

As for Vulcan, he decided to play support and provide cover fire for the two, shooting down any monster that was about to sneak attack them.

"Eat lead, you bastards!" he roared with anger, but also with excitement. This was the first time he's ever felt joy in battle since the Terror of Angels incident

"T-Thank you, Vulcan!" Hibiki thanked the wolf Rider as she picked up the girl and started to run, wanting to get her safe from this firefight so she wouldn't be a casualty.

"Anytime…" he told her with a kinder tone than the one he used against his foes, "Now rookie, try and keep your eyes on the battle. We need to hold them off until reinforcements arrive…"

"But we should at least try to get her to safety! I won't let a child die in this fight!" She stated.

"I know, that's why Zero-One and I will try and safeguard you until you can get that civilian to safety" Vulcan retorted as he shot at another approaching Noise.

"R-Right! Um… I can try to find a Noise shelter and place her there until more help arrives!" She suggested to the riders.

"Then what are you waiting for cadet! Get moving!" he ordered, "We might not have that much time!" Afterwards, he took out the Attache Shotgun and placed his Shooting Wolf Progrise Key into it.

_**[Progrise Key confirmed. Ready to utilize…]**_

**WEREWOLF'S ABILITY**

With his weapon ready, he aimed it at the hoard of Magia single handedly before pulling the trigger.

_**SHOOTING KABAN SHOT!**_

Energy built up within the barrel of the weapon, only to explode out upon firing it. Sending a ball of energy towards the Magia, as it soon took shape of a wolf's head, biting down on the Magia as it erupted into an explosion.

With Zero-One, he was blocked and dodging the attacks of the Berotha Magia, as he struck it hard and fast. He wanted to destroy this thing for trying to harm his friend and get it done swiftly so they can reunite and talk.

The Magia tried to retaliate, but the rider was just much faster than itself, easily overpowering the Magia as it soon felt its armor being chipped bit by bit. Once the next punch came through, it shattered the sickles on its forearms, causing it to fall to the ground.

"Time to end this!" Zero-One said, before he pushed on the key.

_**RISING IMPACT!**_

He soon jumped into the air, as energy built up into his legs and feet. He soon came flying downward onto the Magia, as the energy in his foot upon extending it, turned into the foot of a grasshopper.

**ラ**

**イ**

**ジ**

**ン**

**グ**

**イ**

**ン**

**パ**

**ク**

**ト**

The kick soon connected as he powered through the Magia, destroying its body as a fiery explosion erupted from it.

_**R**_

_**I**_

_**S**_

_**I**_

_**N**_

_**G**_

_**IMPACT!**_

He soon lands after the attack, but not before breaking his ankle and spinning into Hibiki, who had just lit down the little girl.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt…" Balto noted as he winced at the fall.

Though, for Cody and Hibiki, the two were just laying there with the boy on top, now out of his armor just starting down at Hibiki, who both were blushing softly at reuniting with one another, but also because of the collision accident.

Hibiki was the first to break the silence, hugging Cody softly, as the teen responded back with a hug.

"I thought you were dead…" Cody said softly in the embrace. The two said nothing as they just stayed in that position for a few minutes before sitting up.

Balto glanced to see this, but said nothing. '_Let 'em have their little reunion. They've earned it in my opinion…'_ he noted as he crossed his arms and smiled before returning his gaze towards what was left of the Berotha Magia.

He walked over to the center of the wreckage and picked up the Zetsumerise Key the Magia had left behind.

"I'll see if I can get Dr. Sakurai to analyze this…" he noted to himself as he placed it in a ziplock bag as evidence for a later date.

'_Even still, I think this might be our first big break into this whole Metsubojinrai crisis…'_ Balto thought to himself, '_Especially now that we know that this Zero-One is one the missing people from two years ago, and it's one-half of that couple I saved…'_

Besides that, he was happy to see that a piece of Kanade's will now resides with Hibiki, knowing that she'll use it wisely. Now there was the elephant in the room, Tsubasa.

'_How is she going to take this girl having my sister's relic? Is she going to be harsh on the kid?'_ he theorized in his head, '_Here's hoping the old man will keep her in check, I can't bear to think what she might do…'_

"I knew it… I always knew you were still out there…" the young girl responded, as tears began to run down her face as she smiled.

Cody, who was also smiling, wiped the tears off of her face as he gave his response, "Me too…"

However, once they remembered where they were, Immediately their faces turned beet red as they realized that they had an audience. They quickly scrambles to their feet as they looked away from each other, clearly flustered.

But the reunion was swiftly ended as another voice called out. "Cody-sama. You're needed."

Nearby was Izu, along with a limo, door opened, as she was waiting for him. Cody flinched as he lowered his head, knowing Gai wants a word with him, as he wasn't supposed to reveal himself to anyone. He soon began to walk to the limo, knowing what awaited him.

Hibiki gripped his hand, not wanting to let go, "Cody… please…" She pleaded.

"Sorry, Hibiki… I… I have to…" He responded, forcing his hand to part with Hibiki's before he made his way into the limo, as it soon drove off.

Two years ago, a tragic incident occurred and divided certain people, but now, they have reunited. What they did not know however, was that this small encounter had put into action a series of events into action, one that will change them and the world forever….

* * *

A/N:

HackerEX: Nice, now I can finally finish EoT and… where's my USB stick?

Striberx: Oh, I yeeted it into another reality.

HackerEX: Oh come on! I needed that!

Striberx: Sorry, but it seemed like it was nothing important. You should label your belongings next time.

HackerEX: Ugh, I better prepare the portal gun...

Striberx: Anywho, hello minna! Striberx and HackerEX again with another story. This time, Symphogear and Zero-One.

HackerEX: Looks like I can check another item of the "Series crossovers I want to try out" list. Seriously, after watching Azenzone's review of Season 1, I had to pick this series up. Go check him out BTW, he does some great magical girl reviews.

Striberx: Same here. I love Symphogear and ever since AXZ finished, I wanted to do a Symphogear story, but was having issues with how to go at it with my usual crossover stuff. I do have one I did make, but that'll get done later on. I wanted to do this instead.

HackerEX: Now I know that this story might be bringing some flashbacks of EoT/Prototype considering that Zero-One isn't finished yet...

Striberx: Exactly. While its closing in on the middle of the series. I thought it would be a good attempt to try it now. Also, for now, Gai/Thouser is the main antagonist for this story, at least until we learn more from the series and what it has in store.

HackerEX: Also, fun fact, this project is actually a revival of the old Ultraman/Symphogear snapshot I posted eons ago.

Striberx: We just figured that it'd be easier for us, if we try to combine those things to save us time, since the only difference seems to be toku series. Also, there will be some other changes and such for this story, but the Symphogear story will likely be the same as the series already is.

HackerEX: Don't worry though, we will be adapting a few episodes of Zero-One into this along with some original content.

Striberx: We even got new ideas for this too, such as the reveal of Vulcan Gatling Hedgehog. But for now, it's mostly gonna be something new for us to try, as we're gonna be making sure this is more Symphogear than Zero-One for now.

HackerEX: Although, there is something I do need to address here: the power scaling… Look, while we don't know the full extent of what any of the Zero-One Riders can do, their current feats pale in comparison to what the Symphogear users can do in Season 1 alone. Heck, I'm kind of worried that we might accidentally upstage the Symphogear users in favor of the Riders for this very reason. That's why I'll be trying to help striber scale the threats our heroes are going to be up against, much like how I normally do for Edge of Time.

Striberx: And if anyone is also wondering how the Zero-One riders are able to face against the Noise? Don't worry, I have an idea for that too. It may pop up in the next chap, or later on in the Season 1 arc of Symphogear. But there is a reason as to how they're able to.

HackerEX: Also, and I know this is a bit off-topic, but we have heard you about the stuff about Oma Zi-O in Re:Zi-O. Trust us, we know how OP that guy is. I also would like to remind you that the series we're using is Re:Zero, an anime that's well known for screwing with the viewer.

Striberx: Exactly. We fully know about Oma Zi-O. We have plans for that and will reveal as to how he was even able to be defeated. It's more than just because or some magical mary sue weapon.

HackerEX: Don't you mean magical McGuffain?

Striberx: They get the jist of both of those reasons.

HackerEX: Alright, I'll ease off. Anyhow, going back to Zero-One, you might be wondering about that katakana I stuck onto the finishers… Well, in the words of a certain tag team, we got two for ya! Education, and differentiation.

Striberx: I got the education part. As someone who is truly trying to learn Japanese? This can help those for who want to read the katakana. We may add more stuff in, along with maybe some actual lessons in? But you'll have to wait and see for that.

HackerEX: As for the differentiation part, I kind of feel like placing the finisher in English twice feels a bit redundant in this case. So, as a means to both educate and challenge myself, I decided to try and add in the katakana for each finisher in this story; even the ones for finishers that didn't exist in Zero-One proper. One more thing, yes I know I made the Vulcan OC's name a bit on the nose, but then again that could be said for all of my OCs honestly...

Striberx: Suffice to say, I'm proud of having this made and the effort we're adding in. And I hope everyone else likes this too? ^^

HackerEX: So, did you like what you read? If so then let us know with a review down below! Be sure to give this story a fav and a follow to let us know you want more!

Until then, later minna!


	2. Chapter 2: Clash of Ideals

Senki Zessho Symphogear: A Cybernetic Touch

~A tale of the valkyries and the beasts that follow them…~

* * *

Chapter 2: Clash of Ideals -The Werewolf's Howl of Regret-

* * *

_**WARNING: I own none of these characters sides from my OC(s). All rights go to their respective owners and properties.**_

_**This is nothing more than, well a fanfic, a story made up by a fan for entertainment and knowledge.**_

_**Everything in this fic is not canon and is only meant to give the audience a new idea of the works of each of the franchises in this story.**_

_**So please support me, my work and have some fun. Now enjoy the story. ^w^**_

* * *

_During the night, Tsubasa and the few others at Section 2 were making their way towards the powerplant upon not only receiving that Zero-One is there, but somehow the relics of Gungnir were there, causing a shock to all._

_Once they gained their approval, they rushed towards the scene, though Tsubasa seemed more concerned and eager as she was ahead of them all, wanting to see if this somehow was Kanade, and if it wasn't she would make sure whoever is using that gear to rue the day they used it._

"_Tsubasa! Slow down! That's an order!" Genjiro shouted at her through the coms on her helmet._

_However she did not listen before getting another call on the coms, this one coming from Balto. "What do you want, you stupid dog?" she growled_

"_Listen, I know you're on your way, but calm down. It's not Kanade…" Balto informed her._

"_What?" she asked him, "But the signal that came up was clearly Gungnir. I'm sure that even you would want to know about this!"_

"_Cause I'm next to the user, and it's not her!" He stated, as gunfire sounds off from his end._

"_Then where's Zero-One?" she asked him, "You at least caught the rogue Rider, didn't you?"_

_Balto was silent for a moment, "I wish I could, but right now my focus is on the Noise attack than it is on him…"_

"_Grr, of course it is. I'll help clean up your mess." she grumbled as she frowned, before going full throttle to reach the battlefield._

_When she neared the power plant, she spotted a large Noise converging on the area while a limousine drove off. 'A limo? What's that doing here?' she thought for a moment._

_But upon seeing the Noise, she had to snap out of her stupor as she jumped off of her bike, letting it crash into some Noise as she took a short breath to sing her Gear._

**Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron…**

_A blue glow emitted from her necklace before erupting into sleek armor and gear parts as it formed her Symphogear Suit, allowing her to spawn her sword as she made several swords rain down from the sky, piercing and striking the Noise below._

"_Heh, finally some backup!" Balto sighed in relief as Tsubasa landed before the two._

"_Fall back, Balto. I'll take things from here." She said to him coldly as she charged ahead._

"_Roger!" he noted as he motioned for Hibiki and the little girl to move out of harm's way, allowing the veteran Symphogear user to cut loose._

_Tsubasa sang as she slashed and cut down the Noise in her wake, dealing with the mess that was in front of her, using her skills to cut them down with raining swords or simply slashing them in two, of course the larger Noise she extended her blade and cut it down with her Azure Flash, sending it into ashes until they were all cleaned up._

_She soon sighed before turning towards the group, "Is everyone okay?"_

"_Woah… Tsubasa-san has powers too?" Hibiki said in awe, as the bluenette soon sees the Gear on Hibiki's person._

"_Umm…" Hibiki muttered as she felt the piercing glare the girl shared on her, which was different from the more warm expression Cody shared with her earlier._

_Soon, several cars and more appeared as official looking people started to pop out and help clean up any other mess, including reuniting the little girl with her mother, only to have to sign legal documents to stay quiet…. And cuffing Hibiki as well._

"_Hey Ogawa, isn't this a bit much?" Balto concernly asked the manager._

"_It's protocol." He said with a sigh._

_The gunman merely sighed before shrugging his shoulders, "Alright then, but if she starts calling us creeps, can't say that I warned ya…"_

"_Commander is well, well aware of that." Ogawa nodded before noticing how care-free Balto had sounded, nothing like the sullen boy he had been since the incident._

"_Why me?!" Hibiki cried out as she was taken away to Section 2's base._

* * *

_**(Insert Op Song - Heroes - Ryota Fujimaki - Zero and Geed Chronicles)**_

* * *

The song starts with an instrumental, as various multicolored ones and zeros begin to rain down from the sky before transforming into a stampede of multicolored robotic animals, all lead by a yellow robotic grasshopper, running through a hexagonal tunnel of sound. Once the grasshopper leaped through an orange ring of sound, it soon transformed into the series title

_**[Hikari no naka de, Yami ga umarete, Ookiku hakari wo, Kuzushiteshimau toki]**_

It soon jumps to Cody watching the clouds go by. As he gets up, he is greeted by Hibiki and Miku, who are happily waiting for him. However when he walks towards them, they are spied on by Yua, who is recording data for Gai.

_**[Yamiyo ni sakebi, Chi wo hau monotachi, Machi wa kirisakare, Kizuna wa tatareru]**_

As it soon shifts, we enter a firing range at night, where Balto is practicing his aim. As he takes off the protective gear, he turns to see Tsubasa and as the two walk by each other, the ghost of Kanade appears between them as they share a glance of animosity and regret between them.

_**[Zero ni naru kakugo wa aru ka, Shimei wo eranda senshitachi]**_

It shifts once more first to Genjuro looking through a window as he stares at various screens about Gungnir, Ame-no-Habakiri, as well as data on Shooting Wolf, before transitioning into Gai watching the data for Rising Hopper with a wicked grin. Finally, it jumps to Fine, who is preparing three figures, later shown to be Chris, Horobi, Jin, and Raiden for battle.

_**[Sakete wa toorenu tatakai e, Hikari wo obite, Mae e mae e mae e..]**_

As the four rush into battle, they are confronted by an army of Noise and Magia walking towards them. With each of them ready for battle, the girls begin to sing their song while the boys activated their Progrise Keys. Once they did so, a bright light began to shine onto them as they were transformed.

_**[Susume bokura no hero... Asahi ni inori akatsuki ni chikau. Heiwa no kane wo... Narase hero...]**_

Cody, now as Zero-One Rising Hopper charges into battle, punching and cutting down any monster in his way, as Hibiki runs in behind, mowing down more enemies before the two stop, looking at the three members of in their Rider forms along with Chris in the Nehushtan Armor, before the two turn to one another, holding hands as they stand their ground, ready to take them on. As they charge in, their other allies of Tsubasa, Vulcan, and those who follow him join their lead.

_**[Bokura wa anata kara, Hontou no yuki o shiru]**_

As they fight the monsters, images of new forms are shown behind Cody, namely the Biting Shark, Flaming Tiger, and Freezing Bear form. Afterwards, the same happens to Balto, revealing the Gatling Hedgehog, Punching Kong, and Trapping Spider forms. Once they stand together, a projection of the Breaking Mammoth and Charging Elasmoth mechas appear in their place.

_**[Tataeyo our hero, Tataeyo our hero~]**_

The two Riders charge alongside Hibiki and Tsubasa, their bodies beginning to shine as they leap into battle and create an explosion of light. Once the light fades, it soon shows a young Cody meeting Hibiki as their teenage selves appeared in their shadows.

* * *

Back within ZAIA's HQ, Cody was being scolded and yelled at by Gai for not only failing to continue with his objective, but revealing himself to a witness, the young boy flinching with each insult being thrown his way by the harsh CEO.

"Do you even realize how much you've jeopardized this company Aldrich?!" Gai growled, "Now AIMS will be investigating us and it'll be all over!"

"I… couldn't help it… Hibiki was there…" Cody responded with a soft voice.

"Excuse me?" the CEO of ZAIA asked, his eyebrow raised as he heard that girl's name, "I thought I told you that we didn't find anyone else but you?"

"Hibiki was there…" Cody repeated, looking up as his soft eyes turned with anger, "And _you_ told me she died. You lied to me!"

He could tell that the boy was furious at being lied to, "Allow me to repeat myself, _I _merely said we only found you and _you_ alone, I never said that she could have been found by someone else… It was only you who thought she died…"

"You didn't say that!" He argued, only for Gai to refuse any more outbursts as he struck the teen, making him fall to the ground as he held his face from the hit.

"That's enough, you little brat!" the CEO roared with anger, "So this is the thanks I get for saving your life and giving you a place to stay? How typical of children this generation… I should have left you for dead all those years ago!"

Cody was about to protest when Yua came in between them, holding her hands out between the boy and the CEO.

"Alright, that's enough!" she stated to the CEO, "He's already learned his lesson with that smack…"

"Hmph… you are to remain here until another Magia occurs. Do I make myself clear?" Gai stated as he fixed his tie from his outburst.

Cody soon got up as he looked away, "Yes sir…" he growled under his breath with clear venom in his voice as he left the room.

Yua sighed upon that after he left, as she turned to the CEO, "Sir, I know you want to control him. But if he rebels, you'll lose any chance you can get with truly unlocking all of the data that Hiden left for him. You shouldn't push him that harshly."

"Indeed, to think he left all of that to that yankee brat…" he growled, "I didn't even know he had an heir, let alone a bastard child walking around in America!"

"It was a surprise to me as well, that Hiden had an affair. At least the data can be extracted once it's fully unlocked, but it will take time." Yua noted.

"It's like Stark all over again…" he grumbled as he brought his hand to the bridge of his nose "That Howard always seemed to always favor the Hidens, but to hide the last known member of his family from us..."

"Still, you shouldn't keep pushing your chances. At least wait until the Ark is fully revived." Yua reminded the CEO.

Gai breathed a large sigh of annoyance, "Fine, I'll play ball for now." He then leaned back on the chair, "You go comfort the boy. He seems to like you more than he does me…"

"As you wish." Yua bowed before she made her exit as well.

As Gai sat back, he brought up the production line he's investing into, moving a few things over as he went to the status of project 'Thouser' he desires.

"Soon…" he muttered as a wicked smile formed underneath his hands, "Soon it will be complete… And then, my victory will be 100, no… 1000% assured…"

XXX

Within Cody's room, Izu was helping clean up the mark Gai left for him, the teen flinching in pain from the treatment as he looked somewhat defeated as he had his head lowered.

"Gah! Izu, not so rough!" Cody complained as he winced at the touch of the alcohol-soaked cotton ball.

"Sorry, Cody-sama. But it is needed if you don't want any possible infection." Izu apologized.

Soon she applied a band-aid to the affected area as Yua entered the room.

"I hope you're not too upset with what happened?" Yua asked him, as he slightly looked away.

"He lied to me, Yua…. He said she was dead…. Yet… there she was…" Cody responded, as his voice softly cracked, as tears built up, "But… she's okay…"

"I'm sure that he had his reasons…" Yua noted as she frowned upon the band-aid covering the fresh mark the CEO left behind on the poor child.

"In any case, I am happy that you at least found that girl you said you had a crush on…" she reassured him in a very 'big sister' tone.

"Y-Yua!" Cody got out, blushing from that comment, "I-I don't have a crush on her… she's… just someone important to me…"

"That's not what Izu told me…" Yua noted as she turned toward the Humagear assistant.

"Izu? You told her?!" He gasped in shock.

"It was a part of my weekly report with Yua-san" Izu admitted, "I did not want to hide anything that might compromise you, Cody-sama…"

"But we pinky sweared…" Cody said with a defeated tone.

"I did not know the meaning of the term at the time, I apologize…" the assistant said before bowing.

"Nothing I can do now…" He groaned, covering his face in embarrassment.

"Oh come on, there's nothing to be embarrassed about" Yua chuckled as she looked at the mortified boy, who had now completely forgotten about the prior confrontation.

"But I can't even try talking to her now… Knowing him, he'll make sure I can't see her…." Cody frowned sadly.

Yua sighed as she shook her head in disapproval, "That _does _sound like something Gai would do…"

"Isn't there something we could do?" Cody asked, looking to Yua for help.

"I'm not sure…" Yua noted as she began to think of something, "I'll see what I can do…" she told him, "No promises of whether or not he'll agree to what I might suggest-"

Cody looked at her with a more happier look, as he soon smiled and hugged her, "Thank you, Yua!" he thanked the woman, interrupting her as she was caught off-guard by the hug.

Even since they took him in upon learning his inheritance, Yua mostly looked after him besides Izu. She was, to him at least, a big sister he never had and one he actually cared about. Something Yua at first didn't want to do, she didn't feel like growing any attachment, but years later she grew into it and saw him as a brother as well.

"Alright, alright…" she playfully told him as he briefly returned the hug, "Calm down, you might crush me with that hug!"

"Sorry." the boy apologized, letting go of her as he smiled.

"In anycase, you better get some sleep" Yua told him as he looked outside, "It's already getting late as it is."

"Right, thanks again, Yua." He smiled as he got up to change and get ready for bed while Izu continued to watch over him.

'_I know I was told not to get attached… but he truly is like what Fuwa would be if he was still alive…' _Yua reminisced within her thoughts before leaving the room.

XXX

Back with Hibiki, much to her surprise the convoy of black vehicles, motorcycle, and what she described as a mixture between the Batmobile and a rhino, had soon arrived at Lydian. They later went into a large downwards elevator that was placed in some strange intricate cave painting.

Hibiki was lost for words as they continued to travel downward. She didn't know this was underneath her school, she didn't even know where she was going, as she had no choice to go along.

"Don't bother. Where we're going, there's no room for smiles…" Tsubasa told her, only to see her would-be partner interject.

"20 Yen says otherwise…" he noted with a light chuckle, "Knowing uncle, he's probably gearing up for a big party as we speak…"

"So um… are… you two like… boyfriend and girlfriend?" Hibiki asked, unsure about their relationship.

"Nah, we're like surrogate brother and sister than an actual couple." Balto noted after laughing off the girl's question.

"More like a pain…" Tsubasa huffed in annoyance.

Hibiki soon looked at the two with confusion before the elevator stopped. As the doors opened, she was following the others as they led to who knows where?

*POP!*

Party favors soon went off as she was greeted to the sight of the base seemingly decorated for a welcoming party, complete with a cheesy home-made banner on top.

"Welcome, Hibiki Tachibana!" Genjuro greeted as the staff around him clapped as a banner above them read exactly what he said.

Hibiki was stunned as Tsubasa could feel Balto's knowing grin behind her head. "Don't say it…" she growled at him.

"Told you…" Balto noted with a chuckle as he walked past his partner, hands in his pockets.

"How… did you know my name?" Hibiki gasped as Genjuro walked over to uncuff her.

"Information gathering is our department." He smiled, holding some paper before it bloomed into a bouquet of flowers.

"In other words, we kind of stalked you…" the gunman told the girl, shocking her as he had her bag in his hands.

"But thats an invasion of privacy!" She gasped in horror.

"It's a small price to pay for the protection of others..." Balto stated before tossing it back to her.

"So, before we answer more of your questions, sit down, eat. You must be tired from that fight." Genjuro offered.

"W-Well… now that you mention it…" Hibiki said as they all heard her stomach roaring for food.

"Well it looks like somebody's hungry…" a female voice pointed out as Sakurai walked onto the scene. She was a woman that looked to be in her early 30's, with bunned up brown hair, glasses and a lab coat on top.

"Hey doc, got something for ya" Balto greeted as he handed over the sealed Berotha Zetsumerise Key.

"Ah! Thank you, Balto-kun!" She smiled, taking it happily, "I should give you a kiss as a reward."

"Please no, I'd like to keep my dreams lewd-free tonight.." Balto said as he took a few steps away from the woman.

"Oh, you're no fun." She pouted before heading to her lab.

"Sooo, I'm guessing you have a lot to ask us…" Balto noted as he turned his attention towards Hibiki.

"Y-Yeah…. Just… what is going on today?" She asked, unable to pinpoint her questions.

"I can answer that for you," Genjiro said as he walked towards the two.

"W-Well.. To start with… who are you all?" She asked.

"We're known as the First Division" Genjiro told her, "A group dedicated to protecting the world from the Noise and any Magia that happens to appear"

"So, you're the ones who had that guy become a wolf man and Tsubasa use those swords?" she asked.

"Kamen Rider" Balto corrected her, "I think the word you're looking for is Kamen Rider."

"Kamen Rider?" Hibiki asked

"Indeed, in order for us to fight against the Magia, we use special keys that have been modified with data created from animal DNA that can allow us to fight…" Genjiro noted, "While we don't have a name for these individuals as we simply call them Progrise Operators, some of us decided to take on the name of Kamen Rider from how the media have referred to these forms as such…"

"And… Tsubasa-san? What about her? Is she a Kamen Rider, too?" She asked.

"No, she's a Symphogear user" Genjiro told her

"Symphogear?" the girl asked once again

"I think I can explain that…" Sakurai noted as she returned to the group. "Symphogears, as reclics of the past. They were created to stop the Noise, though only a select few can wield them, and that only happens to be girls. They use their voice to sing to use the power of the relics, and it seems you, Hibiki-san, are one of the few lucky to be able to use it."

"W-Wait, me?!" she gasped.

"Yes, I mean, after all, that's how we found you in that area." Sakurai said, "Though we will need to run tests as to how you're able to. Don't worry, no needles involved."

"Hey, be gentle Sakruai…" Balto said, knowing what the scientist was about to say as he waved his finger at her, "She's only 15 after all…"

"I know, I know…" Sakurai dismissively waved off.

Hibiki soon began to dread what the doctor was about to do to her as the woman loomed over her.

XXX

As the testing continued, Tsubasa was sitting in the lounge, a frown on her face as she was gripping her cup, "To think…. She has Kanade's Gear…" She muttered with disapproval.

"I know…" Balto noted as he walked into the room, "It's honestly a shock to me that even a piece like that is still in the world."

"I hope Sakurai can remove it from her…." She said coldly.

"Knowing her, it might not happen…" Balto said in a similar disapproving manner.

"Then she should get to it and remove it! That girl doesn't deserve Kanade's Gear!" She shouted out.

"And you think she wanted that life?" Balto retorted, "I think I remember you saying something like that when you tried to throw my ShotRiser into the Pacific Ocean!"

"This is different." She turned away.

"Tsubasa, I know you feel that way, but you shouldn't give your grief onto Hibiki-san." Genjiro said, as he walked into view. "She was thrusted into this battle without consent. There's nothing we can do."

"What do you mean, Uncle?" Balto asked.

"Sakurai-san informed me… that there is indeed the Gungnir inside her… but it's close to her heart. Should we try to remove it, it could just kill her instead." He informed the two. "Seems this was not only a way for Kanade's will to continue, but also to protect that girl should she be in danger."

"Yeah…" Balto noted as he slumped down, "But still, I can't believe we have to bring her into this… She's just a normal girl, she doesn't have to fight in this war…"

The room was silent for a moment as Genjiro sighed, "So, you said you know Zero-One's identity. Care to explain to me how you got this information?" he asked as he wanted to change the subject.

"It was hard to see his face… But… I hear Hibiki saying his name. 'Cody', I believe?" Balto responded.

"Isn't that one of the names on the missing persons list from two years ago?" Tsubasa asked him, recalling where she had heard that name before.

Genjiro held up his RisePhone as he began to search, and sure enough a name came through, "Cody Aldrich. Seems he was a friend to Hibiki and a few others." He informed them, "He went missing during your concert, Tsubasa."

"I believe he was living with his adopted sister at the time of his disappearance…" Balto noted as he recalled the briefing they had.

"Yes, Miku Konhiata. They adopted him after his parents died in an accident. Seems their parents were close friends, so they brought him in." Genjiro informed, looking through the information on his RisePhone.

"Seems so, and I recall that he was pretty close to that Hibiki kid too…" Balto noted, "I mean, they were holding onto each other when I saw them two years ago…"

"So then, why is he Zero-One?" Tsubasa questioned, pondering why he would be an enemy to them.

"Who knows... I couldn't get the chance to confront him before he slinked off…" the gunman mostly admitted, leaving out that he let the man go on account of his reunion with Hibiki.

"Hmm… then we can't have him as a enemy. We need to know more and where he's been." Genjiro stated, "If you ever come back into contact with him, try to reason with him or at least get him to agree to talk to us."

"Affirmative, sir" Balto noted as he gave a salute to the man before going back to checking on his phone. "Are you serious?! Rick May is dead?!" the boy gasped as he saw the news on his phone.

Tsubasa rolled her eyes as she noticed the change in Balto's attitude. "You seem pretty upbeat after this…" she noted.

"How can I not?" Balto answered, "We just found another Gungrir user. I know that I hate having to bring her into this, but at least I'm glad that it's her and not someone else…"

Tsubasa however disagreed as she said within her thoughts, '_I know that you may have, but I… I still can't accept her as Kanade's successor….'_

XXX

The next day, Hibiki was attending class as her mind drifted back to last night. She had been sent back by Genjiro with the request of her not telling anyone what had happened at the power plant. But what was on her mind truly was the fact that she saw Cody again. She still had so many questions as she didn't even know where he is now, all she can do is hope to find him again soon.

"Tachibana!" The teacher howled out, snapping the teen out of her stupor.

"Oh, sorry ma'am!" she chirped as she returned her attention to the lesson at hand.

"Then please, tell the class how to finish this problem?" She demanded, pointing to the question on the board.

Hibiki merely sighed as she gave the teacher an answer that seemed satisfactory to her. Later, she was having lunch with Miku and their friends in the courtyard.

"I'm telling you all, she has it out for me!" Hibiki groaned, as she was studying and eating at the same time as her friends helped feed her while she worked her butt off, studying what she was given by the teacher because of her laziness.

"You know that's not true, 'Biki." Kuriyo tried to console her, "She just doesn't want you to fail this year…"

"Still, you should start taking this more seriously, Hibiki…" Miku frowned softly.

"I know…" Hibiki sighed.

"Just what was on your mind again that made you doze off?" Shiori questioned.

"N-Nothing really…" Hibiki said, trying her best to keep her mind off of Cody.

"Was it a boy?" Yumi teased.

At once Hibiki's face lit up like a Christmas light. "T-T-That's not true!" she squeaked.

"Oh it is!" Yumi gasped, "To think lil' Hibiki has a crush! Tell us more about him."

As Hibiki's friends swarmed her with questions, Miku couldn't help but giggle at her friend's disposition. But since she knew Hibiki more than anyone else, she knew the young girl was thinking about Cody again, as she soon gained a sad look on her face.

Upon gaining him into her family, Miku treated him just as much kindness and care as she did with Hibiki, and they grew well as adopted siblings. Of course, upon hearing his death, both of the girls comforted each other in that dire time. She truly missed him and knew that it was difficult not to think about, but she knew that time will heal and they can reminisce happily again soon.

XXX

Elsewhere at ZAIA HQ, Cody was lying on his bed, thinking back to his reunion with Hibiki. The young boy was smiling softly knowing she was alive and well. He was also wondering how Miku was, and hoped he would get a chance to talk to them normally soon, but he had to trust Yua and let her try something out.

"Cody-sama? I'm detecting a rise in your temperature. You're not sick, are you?" Izu asked, snapping the boy out of his thoughts.

"P-Pardon, Izu?" Cody called out, confused but was trying to change the subject.

"Your heartbeat also seems to have increased as well" she also pointed out.

"I thought we discussed not to look into my vitals unless I'm in combat!" He whined with embarrassment.

"I apologize, Cody-sama" she said to him before allowing him to think again.

The young boy took a deep breath and sighed, "It's okay, thanks Izu. So is there something else you needed?" He asked her.

"I noticed that you have encountered one of the First Division's Progrise Operators, and yet both of you chose to cooperate" she noted

"Because not only Hibiki was in danger, but so was that little girl. I couldn't just leave knowing they could die." He responded back.

"However Vulcan was against you going near them, was he not? It wasn't until she awakened an unknown power that he began to act less aggressive towards you…" Izu noted.

"Guess it might've been something important?" Cody shrugged, "Any idea what even happened to her?"

"Sadly I do not, it seems that this power is not in Satellite Zea's database…" she admitted to the boy.

"Hmm then if she seems okay, I don't need to worry that much about it." He nodded.

"Is it because you have feelings for her?" Izu guessed.

"I-Its because I trust her, Izu!" He blushed once more.

"I see…" Izu noted as Cody tried to calm down his blush.

"Still… it is odd that she could fight against Noise… might be similar to that red-head who saved us back then?" Cody pondered for a moment. "Any Magia notifications yet?"

"None yet so far" she noted, "It seems that Magia activity has slightly dipped for now…"

"Well, guess I can relax and not worry about work for now." He said with some relief. "Wonder if I can find a way to sneak out?"

Izu soon began to scan the area for what Cody wanted. "Negative, Cody-sama…" the Humagear assistant told him.

"Dang, well, thanks for trying Izu." He said before smiling at her, "I'm at least glad I have a good friend like you around."

Izu briefly tilted her head, "What do you mean by 'friend'?"

"I mean, I consider you someone close enough I can trust in and have faith in. Thus, a friend." Cody informed.

"I understand, then I apologize for exposing your secret crush yesterday…" she apologized before bowing, "It was not in my place to say such a thing…"

"It's okay, accidents happen." He accepted her apology. "At least you understand some things aren't meant to be told."

"Indeed, Cody-sama" she stated with a smile.

"Well then, I'm starving! What's on the menu for today?" He asked with a smile.

XXX

Meanwhile, in an abandoned mansion, four cloaked figures walked forward before bowing towards a woman wearing a long white dress. "You wished to speak to us, Lady Fine?" one of the figures asked the woman.

"Thanks to our little secret helper, we gained another Lost Zetsumarise Key." She informed the quartet, holding it up along with two others, "I suggest we use this to create a few new Progrise Keys for our plan."

"Wait, you mean we get to be Kamen Riders?!" the second figure asked gleefully, his voice sounding more childish than the others.

"Not just yet. We need more data before we can allow that to happen." She denied.

"Well it better happen, I'm in the mood for some fightin'" the third figure grumbled as he cracked his knuckles.

"For now, just continue to make havok. Soon your Ark and my dream will come true." Fine said.

"Indeed, we will continue with creating more Magia as you wish" the last of the figures answered, her voice sounding more refined than her male counterparts.

"I believe the next target area should be around the highway. Find a few construction Humagears and use it." She said, handing them a ZetsumaRiser.

"Yes, Lady Fine…" all four figures stated as they bowed before her before the first three figures took the keys.

"I assume you know what to do with this one, Horobi, Jin, Raiden?" Fine asked as the figure took off his cloak, revealing a man with spiky light brown hair and a large headband.

"Of course. After all, this is all for the Will of The Ark." Horobi nodded, taking the Riser from her as well.

"Then go forth!" she ordered as the trio left the mansion to find the next Magia.

XXX

At the First Division HQ, Balto was taking a nap on a nearby bench after passing out from a long day of school and training. He seemed to be squirming around as it looked like he was having some kind of dream.

_He was standing alone in some kind of black void. "Huh? Where am I?" he called out, "Helloooooo?"_

_As he continued to wander the void, he noticed Kanade in the distance. "Sis!" Balto cried out as he recognized the girl._

"_Listen, I'm sorry about yelling at you during that incident at the arena!" he cried, "I know that I didn't want to be treated as a kid, but that didn't mean that I wanted you out of my life for good!"_

_However Kanade soon looked at him with a saddened expression as she started to fade away. "No…" Balto mumbled, "No wait, come back!" However as he ran towards her, no matter how fast he could run, he could never reach her. When he tried to reach out for her, the darkness seemed to envelop him more and more. _

"_No please, don't go!"_

"KANADE!" Balto shouted, jolting up from the bench in a cold sweat. "Ugh, that nightmare again…" he groaned as he held his head, '_Guess finding out about Hibiki's brought that back into my mind…'_ As Balto lowered his arm, he noticed his sleeve had fallen slightly, revealing a few scars done up in a tally mark on the back of his wrist and forearm. He sighed as he fixed his sleeve and got up from the bench.

Ever since the Terror of Angels incident, Balto had been plagued by dreams of him watching Kanade die before him or him being confronted by his adoptive sister's ghost, always tormenting him whenever he tried to go to sleep. It soon got to the point that his concentration was impared by the lack of rest, on top of the grief of her death affecting his mental state.

In order to combat these nightmares, Balto started cutting himself for every life he couldn't save, doing so after every mission he was on. It was mostly as a means of his self-imposed 'punishment' and as a reminder to himself to save as many people as he could. However that did mostly did nothing but add the screams of those people to his nightmares, tearing him apart like the souls of the damned

As he walked back to his room, his mind briefly flashed back to when Tsubasa found out about his habit…

_FLASHBACK_

"_Alright Balto, where are you?" Tsubasa called out. It has been several months since she and Balto had become partners. While she would rather just go on patrol, due to the last mission they had, they were on break and recovering. She figured maybe talking things out could help, even if she rather not._

_All of a sudden, she heard someone gasp, likely Balto. She headed towards the spot, before seeing Balto as her eyes widened at what he was doing to himself._

_He had a plank of wood in his mouth and a knife on his hand, when she looked down, she saw several tally marks on his arm both faded and recently carved into his arm._

"_What do you think, you're doing?!" She shouted, marching over to him as he knocked the knife out of his hand._

"_T-Tsubasa?!" he gasped as the plank fell from his mouth. He did not expect for her to catch the boy like this._

"_Why are you even doing that to yourself?! Don't you have any shame?" She scolded._

_The boy soon looked down and sighed, "Why should it bother you?" he asked, sounding more angry than shameful. "I screwed up, so I'm paying the price…"_

"_Because if I didn't find you, I'm sure that you would be scolded much harsher than you are now if it was someone like Genjuro or Ryuko." She informed, "Just what made you think this was okay?"_

"_I'm just doing it to remind myself…" he answered as he looked at his arm and fully pulled away the sleeve, revealing all of the scars that had accumulated over the past few months. "This is penance for that day…"_

_This made Tsubasa gasp in shock, only for her to feel angry before she slapped him hard, "I can't believe you… Kanade would be ashamed to see you do this!"_

"_AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK SHE WOULD THINK THAT, HUH?!" he roared as he got up, "SO? ANSWER ME!" _

_Tsubasa took a step back, she had never seen Balto this angry before…_

"_You think I like turning my arm into a fleshy chalkboard for kicks?!" he continued to rant, "No, I'm doing it because I've done nothing but fuck up ever since I became Vulcan. I fucked up when I almost killed Genjuro after I got the thing, I fucked up when I basically led my own sister to her death because I was pig-headed enough to think I could finally be a hero during that incident, and now I have to watch as hundreds of people have to bury their loved ones just because I was too late to save them!" _

_As he continued to shout, Tsubasa noticed that his knuckles were white as many of his scars began to open up again, "Do you know what it's like to have to close your eyes and hear their cries in my dreams, in my nightmares?! Having to listen to them condemn you for letting them die, or watching as your own sister, blood or not, simply turn your back on you for what was essentially your last words to her?! No! It's only because you lost your friend and that's it! Me, I lost my second chance to have a family all because I was an ignorant, vindictive asshole!"_

_Balto soon began to calm down as when Tsubasa saw something in his eyes that she did not see, or likely refused to acknowledge he had…_

_Guilt. unending, heart-swallowing guilt._

"_You may have tried to become an emotionless blade, but don't think for one second that you weren't the only one who suffered that day…" he growled as he began to walk past her. "I'll stop counting my sins, when I'm the one who'll be put in the dirt…"_

_As she watched him walk away with his hands in his pockets, Tsubasa couldn't help but notice that his eyes were yellow and black, not the blue she was so used to seeing..._

_FLASHBACK ENDS_

"She couldn't possibly understand how I feel… Nor what Kanade would say about this…." He said, scoffing as he rolled his sleeves back down to hide them before he left his area. As he did, he soon walked by a concerned Genjuro.

"Hey champ, you feeling alright?" he asked him.

Balto could only manage to make a ghost of a grin, "Yeah, I just had a bad dream…" he sighed as he walked away.

"Hey…" Genjuro placed his hand softly on the teen's shoulder, "Remember… if you ever need to talk or consult, I'm here for you."

This made the boy's smile a little brighter, "I'll keep that in mind…"

"That's the spirit…' Genjuro smiled, "How about we get some Takoyaki? My treat."

Before he could answer however, they noticed Hibiki arriving alongside Tsubasa… in handcuffs… again…

"This again?" Balto sighed as he shook his head in faux disappointment, his attitude started to return to his old self, "Come on Tsubasa, you could have just asked her to come in without resorting to cuffs…"

"Until Genjuro approves of her, it has to be done." Tsubasa said, uninterested in the young girl.

The wolf-boy chuckled as Ryuko greeted the group, "Okay! It's time to reveal the results of yesterday's check-up!" she cheered as she brought up a holo screen with said results.

The screen soon showed the x-rays of Hibiki, as it then zoomed in on her heart were several small white spots around it.

"_This_ is what remains of Gungnir. And it's what gives Hibiki-chan here her Symphogear." Ryuko informed.

"Is that…?" Hibiki asked as she looked at the spot.

"Yeah, that's the place where sis' armor hit you…" Balto confirmed, "Saw it happen too…"

"It also seems to be not only where you're getting you these bursts of energy, but you have excellent recovery too." Ryuko said, "When you first got hit with it, not even 4 days go by and you're already on your feet."

"So… its cause of that…" Hibiki muttered, placing her hand where her scar is at.

"But~ other than that? Nothing seems to be life threatening or anything." Ryuko waved off nonchalantly.

"Basically, right?" she asked cautiously.

"Sorry if it's not the news you wanted to hear…" Balto apologized before she got up.

"Please! Tell me about that power!" She asked, surprising them all as Tsubasa took out a pendant containing a crimson red crystal.

"My relic is called Abe-no-Habakiri, the legendary sword of Susanoo. This is the first relic we found" Tsubasa told her.

"And what Kanade had, and now you, is Gungnir, the spear that can kill gods." Ryuko informed. "These are Relics, ancient items of the past and of legend. Anything you've heard before that were weapons or items from ancient times, existed as Relics. Most of these are found in ruins, but due to the passage of time, they've been damaged in many cases… It's rare to even find one that still holds its former power"

"Which is the case for Abe no Habakiri, we were only able to find a tiny fragment of it." Genjuro noted as he looked at the depiction of the sword, a large katana with several notches left in it.

"The only key to releasing what little power it still contains is a wave that operates on a special frequency" Ryuko added in, "In other words, a song. It is the power of music that activates these relics."

"Music?" Hibiki repeated as he quickly remembered something, "Yeah, I remember when I first transformed, I felt a song coming from my heart…"

Ryuko soon looked towards a virtual diagram which depicted a relic transforming an unknown girl. "When the relic is activated by a song, it transforms into pure energy that reforms itself into a suit of armor not unlike the Rider suits. These anti-Noise armors that you and Tsubasa have are known as Symphogears"

"So what about your Progrise Key? Is there anything mythical about it?" she asked Balto as she noticed his Shooting Wolf Progrise Key sticking out of his pocket.

"From what Ryuko has said, they were initially just items that held data for every living creature that has existed. Some though lost to time, like that of dragons and such." He informed, "But she was able to program and turn them into these items to allow me or others to fight." The boy then took out the Key "For example, my Progise Key is based off of a werewolf, a person who can shapeshift into either a full wolf or a wolf-like creature. Meanwhile, Uncle's Key has data referring to the Rocky mountain grasshopper, an extinct form of insect from America."

"Eh? He has one too?" Hibiki gasped in awe as she turned towards the red-haired man.

Genjuro chuckled and nodded, "Yes, but only when it's needed. It does take a lot out of me, even if my manhood is at max."

"So, does that mean you're also a Kamen RIder?' she inquired of the man.

"Yes. And Zero-One though… is a different case." He informed the group, as the screen soon showed the images of Zero-One since they encountered him.

"From what Balto told me, it seems his Progrise Key is based on a milkweed grasshopper. They are more or less known to spread a noxious fluid from it's thorax…" Ryuko noted as she looked over the data, "Umm, it spews out poison from it's back…" she quickly explained to a very confused Hibiki.

"O-Oh! I-I see." she nodded, still confused though.

"And somehow… he seems more skilled than anyone else with a Progrise Key. He always escapes or outdoes us when he comes into the picture. We don't even know who the user is or even why?" Genjuro said.

This made the young boy realize something, "Maybe he's connected with ZAIA?!" Balto suggested, "That could explain why we haven't been "

"We checked once before. They have nothing that could compete with that. Even more so, the CEO gave us all of his log data, showing no trace." Genjuro stated.

"They don't but I know one company that could," Balto noted as he showed them several papers depicting the original company that ZAIA had bought.

"Hiden Intelligence?" Tsubasa asked as she looked at the papers.

"Um… didn't that company go out of business almost 25 years ago?" She questioned.

"Yeah, but it looks like there was something big they were working on in case of emergencies…" Balto noted, "They called it… Project Zero-One."

Genjuro pondered, "Hmm… could be remnants of Hiden wanting to fight back for losing the company?"

"Likely so…" Balto noted, "When I noticed this when I first looked into Hiden, I had to find out more about this… It just made too much sense to not be the case!"

"Good work, Balto. We'll expand our intel to find more about this information." Genjuro nodded with approval.

"Thanks…" he said with a now confident grin

"So um… what about me?" Hibiki asked, confused as if the check up was all that they needed.

"Well, since you now know what we do. You have two choices. Either train and fight the Noise…. Or enjoy your life in a cell." Ryuko said innocently.

"EHHH?! Why am I being given jail time?!" She cried out.

"Well…" Balto noted as he looked away bashfully, trying to come up with an answer to her question.

"You now know many secrets kept from the public and world. If someone should try to get information from you, it could put us at jeopardy." Tsubasa clarified with her partner.

"Jeopardy?" Hibiki questioned.

"The Symphogears and Relics are a national secret. Should any enemy learn about it, they could try to actually use it for their own gains as well as cause much more havok than the Noise or Magia are already causing. Thus it needs to be kept secret, you can't tell anyone, not even your friends or family." Genjuro said, "Thus, if you accept our terms, you can live normally, but you will be called in to stop any attacks from the Noise or Magia that crop up. And ignore it, we'll have to confine you here just to make sure we don't have any leaks."

"Basically, either work with us as a magical girl, or find yourself in prison… no biggie" Balto casually summarized with a shrug.

"I… can't tell anyone?" Hibiki repeated as Genjuro nodded. Hibiki pondered over it, as not only the thought of her friends and Miku being harmed by this, but also this would be her only chance to see Cody again since that night before. She had to do this.

"Okay… I'll do my best." she nodded, agreeing to their terms.

"Welcome to the team rookie" Balto greeted the young girl before she turned towards his partner.

"I may be new to this, but I'll do my best!" she told the blue-haired idol, "I'd like to fight with you!" However when she gave her hand for a handshake, Tsubasa merely looked confused. "U-Um, I'd like to fight alongside you all…"

All of a sudden, several alarms were heard throughout the base. "Noise and Magia have been detected!" one of the bridge operators told the group, "We got two Onycho-types and one Neohi-type!"

"Tell AIMS we'll take care of this matter!" Genjuro told him as they displayed the coordinates.

"Two hundred meters from Lydian?" another bridge operator gasped.

"That's pretty close, Balto and I will try to swing by there…" Tsubasa noted as she and Balto ran out.

"Be careful!" he told the two. However, Hibiki soon ran after the two.

"Wait! You still-" Genjuro tried to say before she stopped to tell him something.

"I have the power to save someone, right?" she asked him, as he nodded, "Then let me do this! Otherwise I can't get better at this! Besides, there's still someone I need to talk to and this is the only way I can."

Genjuro soon sighed as he shook his hed, "Alright, then I'll come with you…" he told her.

"Wha?! You will?!" she gasped as he nodded and revealed his belt; a grey device with a red clamp and lever.

"While you have the heart of a hero, you still lack the training both Tsubasa or Balto has" he explained, "When you step out of that door and sing your song, you'll no longer be a civilian, but a Symphogear candidate…"

"I understand." She nodded.

Meanwhile, Balto was driving his truck through the city when he saw several cars block his path. "Dammit, looks like i'll have to resort to that…" he sighed as he took out a purple Progrise Key with a spider on the cover before inserting it into the ShotRiser.

**TERRITORY!**

_**AUTHORISE!**_

"Henshin!"

At once, he fired off the bullet and slammed his palm into it to initiate the transformation.

_**TRAPPING SPIDER!**_

**[No one can escape its web]**

His armor while still white, had purple plating on his arms, legs and chest, with the chest resembling the spinneret of the spider as the legs crossed around his arms and legs. His visor, while still protruding the blue eyes, had the small pupils of the spider and a purple line around the frame of the mask.

With his transformation complete, Vulcan looked towards a nearby building and fired from his palm a long silk like rope that sent him straight towards said building.

Once he was in the air, he then began to swing from building to building to build momentum for him to activate the suit's web-like wings and glide towards Tsubasa, who was already before the Noise.

"Sorry to keep you waiting…" he apologized, "Had some traffic issues…"

"Hmph, just get any civilian out of here. I'll deal with this, alone." she ordered.

"Roger that" he told her before spotting one of the two bat-like Magia flying around. "Tsubasa, I got a bogey incoming…" he noted, "I'll try to hold them off while you transform."

Tsubasa could only huff as she sung her song, swiftly donning on her Symphogear as she began to sing and cut down those in her sights. There were a few more Noise and Magia than at the facility where they met Hibiki. But as soon as she thought of the girl, anger began to swell inside her.

Thoughts of, 'How could she have Kanade's Gear?', "Why did Kanade have to die and she live' and many others began to swell in her head. She was angry, upset and confused with all of this new information as she used it to cut them down.

Meanwhile, Vulcan was swinging from lamppost to lamppost, trying his best to keep any civilians out of the way while taking down any Trilobite Magia or lone Noise he encountered. Sure enough, he spotted two bat-like Magia flying overhead.

"Target sited!" the wolf Rider shouted to his partner before firing his webs onto one of the Onycho Magia and using all of his strength to slam it onto the ground, right in front of an arriving Hibiki.

"Sorry!" he apologized before spinning around and slinging the bat-like robot into a nearby lamppost.

"Ohh, I didn't know you had other Progrise Keys!" Hibiki said with awe.

"It helps to be prepared for any situation…" Balto informed the rookie Symphogear user before taking out the Gatling Hedgehog Progrise Key and activating it.

**REVOLVER!**

Upon placing it into his Attache Shotgun, spews of spikes flew out from the barrel, striking and piercing the Noise and Magia that were rushing to him, mowing them down like a lawnmower.

_**GATLING KABAN SHOT!**_

Hibiki was surprised that he was even doing this while holding the device with one hand. Afterwards, she looked at her hands before gripping them tightly. She couldn't flee now from this as she took a deep breath. Soon, a soft song began to resonate with her heart as she heard the words form before, letting her sing the tune to the relic in her heart.

_**Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron**_

Soon, she felt a brilliant light form around her before her Symphogear armor appeared, a light that Cody easily spotted from a distance. His eyes widened as he noticed it from afar as he looked at Izu.

"Give me, my driver, Izu." He requested, knowing that Hibiki would be there, meaning she could use help.

XXX

Meanwhile, the other Onycho Magia was looking overhead as a white squid-like Magia appeared to aid the fallen bat robot.

"Still hungry?" Vulcan growled as he pressed the button on his Progrise Key.

**TERRITORY!**

Once he was ready, he pointed right at the two before pulling the trigger on the holstered Shotriser. At once, he vaulted forward, delivering several flying kicks that encased the bat and squid in webbing before he leaped into the air.

_**ト**_

_**ラ**_

_**ッ**_

_**ピ**_

_**ン**_

_**グ**_

_**ブ**_

_**ラ**_

_**ス**_

_**ト**_

With both of his targets ensnared, he finished them off with a powerful stomp, slamming both of them into the ground and leaving a crater behind.

_**T**_

_**R**_

_**A**_

_**P**_

_**P**_

_**I**_

_**N**_

_**G**_

_**BLAST!**_

_**FEVER!**_

"Wah! So cool!" Hibiki said with awe, standing there only to flinch upon being shot at. She looked at herself, showing she was fine, but she had no idea how to truly fight as she waved her arms out, "C-Come on! Do something!"

Soon, she spotted several mooks coming for her, forcing her to use some muscle memory and began punching anything that was a Noise or a Trilobite Magia. She was even able to perform a German suplex on one of the Magia that was about to attack Tsubasa.

"You…" Tsubasa muttered before all three noticed something flying in the sky.

Thinking it was the remaining Onycho Magia, Balto reverted back to his base form and aimed his gun right at it, however upon a closer look, the wolf Rider realized that it was Zero-One flying towards the Onycho Magia, however it seemed that he was in a different form than his Rising Hopper form.

_**HIGH-FLYING HAVOC! BLUSTERING HAWK!**_

**[Let the raging winds collide into a tempest]**

The armor, while did have some parts of the Hopper armor, they are apart and formed differently as a light orange set of armor was on top, as the chest and shoulders were akin to the animal and the faceplate as well as the green eyes set upon the Magia as he flew past, only for a gust of wind to knock it out of position.

"Eh? What's going on?" he muttered as he tried to avoid being swept away from the wind.

Zero-One though, was still surprised that Izu had a new Progrise Key for him to use. He didn't know how much fun it was to fly! Even more so, when using it it can create gusts of wind. He figured that would be useful, and sure enough it destabilized the Magia as he flew back around and started to kick it, using the thermal drifts to keep him above his opponent as he slammed his foot into the machine's back. This caused the Onycho Magia to slightly veer off course before quickly turning around and fly past the Rider, using it's wings to slash at him in a hit-and-run tactic.

"Guh! Why you lousy-!" Zero-One growled as he soon began chasing after the Magia, angered by its attack. It soon turned into a minor aerial dogfight with both fighters using the wind as their ammunition along with trading punches and kicks.

"Eh? I thought you said Co- I mean, Zero-One only had that grasshopper key?!" Hibiki gawked.

"Yeah, I did…" Vulcan noted as he watched the battle unfold, "Guess ZAIA wasn't the only one building Progrise Keys…"

"Since he seems busy…. Then maybe this would be a good time to take action?" Tsubasa said, as she walked slowly to them, her blue bangs covering her face.

"Likely, but it looks like we still got company…" Vulcan noted as he saw the Noise and Trilobite Magia begin to surround them.

"You can deal with them, Vulcan. I need to talk with Tachibana." Tsubasa said.

"Yeah, and leave you two open for attack, like that'll ever happen…" he laughed off as he pointed his pistol, "How about we take these things down, and then you two talk?"

"I'll do my best!" Hibiki nodded.

Vulcan could only smirk as the three got to work fighting off the hoard, forced into a corner as they took down Noise after Magia that got near them. Meanwhile, Cody spotted the trio being forced back-to-back as they fought off the mooks.

"Hibiki!" he cried out as he tried to fly in and help them, but the Onycho Magia kept his attention squarely on itself. "Grah, I have no time for this!" he roared as he initiated his finisher and flew at the machine at mach speed.

_**ブ**_

_**ラ**_

_**ス**_

_**テ**_

_**ン**_

_**グ**_

_**イ**_

_**ン**_

_**パ**_

_**ク**_

_**ト**_

At once, he lined up his feet and performed a flying dropkick that destroyed the Magia with a burst of magenta energy.

_**B**_

_**L**_

_**U**_

_**S**_

_**T**_

_**E**_

_**R**_

_**I**_

_**N**_

_**G**_

_**IMPACT!**_

With his target gone, he soon turned his attention back towards the trio of Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Vulcan, who were destroying the last of the hoard. The young man began to fly closer to them only for a new enemy reading hit his vision, only for a rain of purple, poison-tipped arrows shot out at the group.

"Incoming!" Zero-One shouted out to them.

This forced all three to frantically dodge as the arrows flew straight for them. When the rain subsided, the quartet were met by four figures. All four of them had one different set of armor.

The first was purple with a glowing yellow eyes, and a spike on his left arm that resembled a scorpion's stinger, the second was a light pink Rider with a bird-like helmet and wings underneath his armpits, the third looked more like pseudo-biker gear with two wing-like swords in each hand, and the last was what appeared to be a woman with white armor and thorns, as she held some staff in her hand.

"What the, other RIders?!" Zero-One gasped, 'Gai never told me that there were other Riders…'

"Who… are they?" Vulcan gritted.

The purple one stepped forward, "We… are Metsubojinrai dot net. We are working with Fine to exterminate humanity." He informed the group.

Tsubasa's eyes soon widened as she noticed the female figure, "That armor… You're the one who stole the Nehushtan Relic?" she questioned the girl.

"Heh, figures you'd know by the look. Yes, we did." The female responded. "But don't get the wrong idea, I'm only here for one thing only. These guys on the other hand, simply want to kill the rest of you lot."

"So, you're the guys behind all the Magia attacks…" Zero-One guessed as he clenched his fists.

"It's all for The Will of the Ark! We're here to rid humanity and revive the HumaGear to what they were before!" The pink one chuckled gleefully.

"Well whatever your goal is, I'm not letting you end this world or it's people!" Vulcan growled.

"Oh, it's you… the runaway mutt…" the red one noted as he pointed his sword at the wolf Rider, "I thought I recognized that voice…"

This completely confused the others as Vulcan remained silent. "If you think I'm gonna let that bitch take me back, you got another thing coming…" the wolf Rider retorted as he aimed his weapon back at him.

"Take you back? You're not needed. You'll be exterminated with the blue one and Zero-One." The biker-Rider responded.

"Balto, what's he talking about?" Tsubasa asked Vulcan, who didn't respond to his partner's question.

"Hm? Didn't tell them before running away?" The purple one noted, "Then let me tell you. 'Vulcan' here was part of our group. He was one of-"

"SHUT UP!" Vulcan roared at the top of his voice, shooting at the purple one as his anger rising before he charged in first, guns blazing. This forced the four members of Metsubojinrai to mobilize along with the other heroes in an all-out war.

Tsubasa began clashing blades with the red biker-Rider, Ikazuchi, while Zero-One returned to the sky to fight off the pink falcon Rider, Jin. This left Hibiki confused as the Symphogear users and Kamen Rider fought against each other

"W-Wait! Why do we have to fight? We can understand each other, can't we?" Hibiki questioned, pleading with the others to stop.

However her cries fell on deaf ears as Vulcan and Horobi viciously fought against each other, guarding and parrying each other's moves with the former acting more feral than before.

"I see that your fighting instinct hasn't dulled, Wolf…" Horobi noted as Vulcan snarled at him, his eyes focused on his opponent. He soon took a stance before dashing forward in a diagonal angle to slash at the scorpion Rider, leaving a claw-like trail behind as he swung his arm and clocked him in the jaw.

XXX

"What's going on there?" Genjuro asked over the comm links, "Balto, Tsubasa, Hibiki?" However, the only response he got was Balto's almost unintelligible growls and snarls.

"Not only is the signal of Nehushtan Relic is there, but 3 other unknown enemies are there!" One of the attendants announced.

This caused the man to clench his fist, turning his knuckles white as he watched the battle start to go into the villain's favor. When he saw that Hibiki was in danger, he had enough and took off.

"Commander?!" another attendant gasped in shock while Sakurai could only watch as he left the room.

XXX

"Please! I don't want to fight you!" Hibiki pleaded as the woman in the white armor used it to attack.

"Well too bad, because I want to fight _you!_" the woman retorted before slamming her fist into Hibiki's stomach.

"Hibiki!" Zero-One cried out, only for feathers to hit him and knock the teen out of the sky as Jin chuckled.

"Pay attention, Zero-One!" He said happily.

Meanwhile, Horobi was effortlessly dodging more of Vulcan's wild strikes before kneeing him in the chest and tossing him into Tsubasa. "Pathetic, so this is how you fight as Vulcan?" he taunted the wolf Rider, "I thought you were made of sterner stuff…"

Ikazuchi however was not amused, "Hey, I had that fight thank you very much!" he growled in annoyance.

"You'll thank me later…" the scorpion Rider dismissively noted as Tsubasa got the wolf Rider off of her.

"This isn't working… We need to figure something out!" Vulcan gritted before coughing harshly.

"There is one way…" Tsubasa said as she stood up and slowly walked to her enemies. Her body soon began to glow as a faint purple hue emitted from her and expanded all around the young woman. This feeling was familiar to Vulcan, as he began to understand what she was about to do.

"No, you're not doing this alone!" he shouted as he grabbed the AttacheCalibur and placed the Gatling Hedgehog Progrise Key into it, he then activated the Shooting Wolf key alongside it and aimed both weapons at the enemy Rider.

_**REVOLVER!**_

_**BULLET!**_

With the combined energy from the two weapons charging, Vulcan could feel his body being torn to shreds while he was aiming the weapon. However, he held on by sheer anger alone before pulling the trigger.

"Balto, what are you doing?" Tsubasa asked him, "Aren't you supposed to protect Hibiki?"

"Hibiki's not my partner, _you are_… remember?" the wolf Rider reminded her in a tone that seemed like he was resigned to his fate, "And besides, I'm not done counting my sins…"

Tsubasa could only look at the Rider with sympathy before nodding and starting the song.

_**Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal**_

_**Emustolronzen Finé el balal zizzl**_

_**Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal**_

_**Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl **_

"Enjoy your end, Vulcan." Horobi muttered, gripping the lever of his driver as he pulled and pushed, making the Key close and open again before the stinger on his armor wrapped around his leg.

_**STING DYSTOPIA!**_

Once Tsubasa finished singing her Swan Song, the combined energy of it and Vulcan's finishers unleashed a massive explosion that took out the bridge they were fighting on.

The woman in white, tried to block but the power overthrew her as she was sent flying, while Jin and Ikazuchi were struck as they were flung out of their transformations with major damage to their bodies, Zero-One included. But for Horobi? He was still kicking as he sent out his stinger, passing through and striking Vulcan as it pierced its armor and hit the teen.

The boy soon fell out of his transformation as he gasped for breath, clasping his neck before falling to the ground in a broken heap with Tsubasa joining him soon after, heavily bruised as blood was dripping out of her mouth and eyes from the backlash of the Swan Song.

Hibiki could only stare in shock as Zero-One began to get up, only to be greeted by Horobi as he pointed his weapon at him.

"Now, you die too, Zero-One." Horobi said, ready to strike. That is until they heard a shout echo out through the battlefield.

"Henshin!"

_**CYCLONE RISE!**_

_**ROCKING HOPPER!**_

Soon a blueish-green blur flashes by, striking Horobi as standing there was yet another Rider. This one, while similar to Zero-One, had a blue and black color scheme with a more man-made style similar to Horobi's but much cleaner than any of the Metsubojinrai Riders.

**[Type 1]**

"U-Uncle?" Balto could barely ask as he held onto the place where Horobi had stung him.

"It'll be okay, just rest for a bit. Let the adults handle this part next." The voice responded, as it was Genjuro inside the suit as he glared back at Horobi. "You hurt my nephew, my niece and two kids. I won't let more blood be spilled here."

"Well well well, if it isn't the mythical Kamen Rider…" Raiden, a young man with brunette hair, noted as he and Jin, a boy about Cody's age with a hood over his head, hobbled towards Horobi, "It's certainly a surprise to me…" the young boy admitted.

"I didn't think that this 'Fine' would revive you four. Guess it was a mistake for my great grandfather to simply toss you into the ocean. Something I won't repeat." He said, getting into a fighting pose.

Soon, the two prepared for battle as Hibiki could only watch on. What first was going to be a simple mission, turned out to be Section Two's first brush with the enemy. Now it was up to their strongest members to battle it out and decide who lives to fight another day.

Who would win? The calm, yet collective Horobi? Or the passionate but stern Ichigata?

XXX

(SONG: BAD END - Shouta Aoi)

_**/Kokoro ga tsukiru made moyase/**_

A mysterious voice began to sing before a powerful burst of sound began to resonate, transforming the scene into a musical score filled with various lines of code.

_**/Kantan ni kuria dekiru**_

_**Koi wa geimu, sō omotteta/**_

The coding soon transformed into Hibiki and Tsubasa attending classes alongside Miku and friends. Next, it jumped into a scene of Balto sparring with Genjuro, a silhouette of Vulcan and Ichigata appearing in the reflection of the river the two were practicing at

_**/Kururi madowasete hikiyosete**_

_**Otosu shudan ga aru keredo**_

_**Naze kimi da kara igai/**_

Finally, it showed Izu helping Cody study while Yua watched on happily. She soon had a flashback of a younger version of herself teaching Fuwa.

_**/Dono rūto erabe ba saitan na no ka**_

_**Kotae wa mienai/**_

Soon it changed to show Gai looking at various screens showing data for various Progrise Keys before several lit up.

_**/BAD END no unmei de mo boku no mono ni nare ba ī**_

_**Sō sa dōse hametsu suru no nara kimi to/**_

It soon transitioned into a tapestry of the Symphogear users and Kamen Riders fighting against each other, starting with Jin flying straight at Zero-One in a divebomb technique, but he was able to leap out of the way. Meanwhile, Hibiki was fighting against Chris, who had Solomon's Cane at the ready to summon several more Noise.

_**/Zettai ni zetsumei shinai ai da to chikau kara**_

_**Ubaisarareru kakugo/**_

The camera soon paned towards Tsubasa clashing blades with Naki's scythe while Ikazuchi and Vulcan leaped at each other, their weapons raised at each other. Finally, it showed off Horobi firing his arm spike to try and attack Ichigata, however the older grasshopper Rider grabbed the stinger.

_**/Mubō ni muteki na yasashisa**_

_**Muda ni makichirasu mae ni/**_

_**Sono shisen o hitorijime shite miseru/**_

Soon the light shined as it showed Cody, Balto, Hibiki, and Tsubasa watching the sunset while Genjuro stood behind the quartet, his back towards them.

_**/Donna kodoku mo itami mo**_

_**Kimi goto uketomeru**_

_**Machiukeru zetsubō o mo/**_

The camera soon focused on Cody and Balto as the former held his wrist while looking towards the sky, while the other held his Shotriser near to his face as he faced the sun. It then panned towards Tsubasa and Hibiki as the blue-haired idol held onto her sword planted onto the ground, while the orange-haired girl clasped her arms in a prayer position.

_**/Nozomu tokoro/**_

Once she looked up, the camera quickly turned towards a starry sky, holding both Cody's and Miku's hand together as they looked at the night sky.

XXX

* * *

A/N:

HackerEX: Whew, would you look at that...

Striberx: Done with chap 2. So sorry on that everyone, besides the virus stuff once more, work has been draining me too much to where it's hard to think lately.

HackerEX: Not to mention I personally have been hard at work on finally finishing Movie War Carnival, which might be ready for at least next week.

Striberx: So yeah, the stories for us will be much slower than it was before, if anything hasn't changed much. But I do still plan to continue, plus this'll give us time to think as well, since Zero-One is on hiatus for now.

HackerEX: But yeah delays aside, we got an ED!

Striberx: this was something that Hacker brought to me and we decided on using the ED idea for heavy/plot relevant chaps like this one. Won't be every chap, but ones we think would do well with it.

HackerEX: Pretty much, also Otome Game no Hametsu Flag's ED is a banger, and I haven't even watched the anime. But that's a tangent for another day… Even still, there is a bit of a content warning concerning… self-harm…

Striberx: Yeah, this is something a bit heavy to discuss on. While I'm not much one to try things like that, I agreed to allow it to not only add something more heavy, but also to show off certain aspects that shouldn't happen. Yes, Balto cuts himself to remind him of the lives he lost. That's heavy, and we agreed to keep it in, not only for now to see how it does, but also to try and give some change to this.

HackerEX: Even still, this is the least of Balto's issues, if this chapter is anything to sneeze at.

Striberx: Either way, we hope you all like this new chap and how we'll continue it soon.

HackerEX: It's honestly a joy to work on both this and Re: Zi-O, so try and send us some feedback in the reviews. Anyway with that said, this is HackerEX and Striberx logging out, see ya!


	3. Chapter 3: Maiden of the Speed

Senki Zessho Symphogear: A Cybernetic Touch

~A tale of the valkyries and the beasts that follow them…~

* * *

Chapter 3: Maiden of the Speed -A Cheetah can't be a mother, can it?-

* * *

_**WARNING: I own none of these characters sides from my OC(s). All rights go to their respective owners and properties.**_

_**This is nothing more than, well a fanfic, a story made up by a fan for entertainment and knowledge.**_

_**Everything in this fic is not canon and is only meant to give the audience a new idea of the works of each of the franchises in this story.**_

_**So please support me, my work and have some fun. Now enjoy the story. ^w^**_

* * *

"So, this is the fabled Kamen Rider…" Horobi noted as he stared down Ichigata.

"Zero-One? Hibiki? Take Tsubasa and Balto as far away as you can. I'll be the one finishing this fight." Ichigata requested.

"But what about you?" Hibiki pleaded with him, "We can't leave you alone to fight this!"

"Don't worry about me. As a man? I can handle this." He declared with a thumbs up.

With a heavy heart, she and Zero-One grabbed the prone bodies of their comrades and fled the battlefield. "You guys leave too… I want him for myself." Horobi ordered the others.

"Don't go breaking down on us…" Chris told him before leaving as well, leaving Horobi to stand alone against Ichigata.

"Now that the children are safe…" he noted before glaring at the scorpion Rider, "Be gone vile scourge, you have no place in this world!"

"Heh, I could say the same for you…" Horobi agreed before taking out a briefcase and transforming it into a bow.

**[Attache Case opens to release the never-missing bow and arrow]**

_**ARROWRISE!**_

"Enough talk, have at you!" Ichigata roared before leaping forward.

The grasshopper Rider then threw out a punch that quickly forced the scorpion Rider to block with his bow. After pushing him off, Horobi quickly fired off several shots at him that Ichigata quickly dodged.

The greenish-blue hopper rider's body glowed as he soon began to zoom and race around Horobi, punching and kicking him at blinding speeds, something that the scorpion rider didn't counter as he blocked. Soon the data of the AI Rider began to calculate before he swung the bladed side of his weapon, striking Ichigata.

"Data Receival, complete. Sorry, but this time, your speed won't matter." Horobi said.

"Seems this is going to be much tougher than I thought…" Ichigata huffed in annoyance, "I guess I'll just have to adapt and overcome!"

* * *

_**(Insert Op Song - Heroes - Ryota Fujimaki - Zero and Geed Chronicles)**_

* * *

The song starts with an instrumental, as various multicolored ones and zeros begin to rain down from the sky before transforming into a stampede of multicolored robotic animals, all led by a yellow robotic grasshopper, running through a hexagonal tunnel of sound. Once the grasshopper leaped through an orange ring of sound, it soon transformed into the series title

_**[Hikari no naka de, Yami ga umarete, Ookiku hakari wo, Kuzushiteshimau toki]**_

It soon jumps to Cody watching the clouds go by. As he gets up, he is greeted by Hibiki and Miku, who are happily waiting for him. However when he walks towards them, they are spied on by Yua, who is recording data for Gai.

_**[Yamiyo ni sakebi, Chi wo hau monotachi, Machi wa kirisakare, Kizuna wa tatareru]**_

As it soon shifts, we enter a firing range at night, where Balto is practicing his aim. As he takes off the protective gear, he turns to see Tsubasa and as the two walk by each other, the ghost of Kanade appears between them as they share a glance of animosity and regret between them.

_**[Zero ni naru kakugo wa aru ka, Shimei wo eranda senshitachi]**_

It shifts once more first to Genjuro looking through a window as he stares at various screens about Gungnir, Ame-no-Habakiri, as well as data on Shooting Wolf, before transitioning into Gai watching the data for Rising Hopper with a wicked grin. Finally, it jumps to Fine, who is preparing three figures, later shown to be Chris, Horobi, Jin, and Raiden for battle.

_**[Sakete wa toorenu tatakai e, Hikari wo obite, Mae e mae e mae e..]**_

As the four rush into battle, they are confronted by an army of Noise and Magia walking towards them. With each of them ready for battle, the girls begin to sing their song while the boys activated their Progrise Keys. Once they did so, a bright light began to shine onto them as they were transformed.

_**[Susume bokura no hero... Asahi ni inori akatsuki ni chikau. Heiwa no kane wo... Narase hero...]**_

Cody, now as Zero-One Rising Hopper charges into battle, punching and cutting down any monster in his way, as Hibiki runs in behind, mowing down more enemies before the two stop, looking at the three members of in their Rider forms along with Chris in the Nehushtan Armor, before the two turn to one another, holding hands as they stand their ground, ready to take them on. As they charge in, their other allies of Tsubasa, Vulcan, and those who follow him join their lead.

_**[Bokura wa anata kara, Hontou no yuki o shiru]**_

As they fight the monsters, images of new forms are shown behind Cody, namely the Biting Shark, Flaming Tiger, and Freezing Bear form. Afterwards, the same happens to Balto, revealing the Gatling Hedgehog, Punching Kong, and Trapping Spider forms. Once they stand together, a projection of the Breaking Mammoth and Charging Elasmoth mechas appear in their place.

_**[Tataeyo our hero, Tataeyo our hero~]**_

The two Riders charge alongside Hibiki and Tsubasa, their bodies beginning to shine as they leap into battle and create an explosion of light. Once the light fades, it soon shows a young Cody meeting Hibiki as their teenage selves appeared in their shadows.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Horobi and Ichigata continued to clash, Zero-One and Hibiki were able to reach Balto's car, where they loaded up the critically injured duo near the back. However, before Hibiki could talk to him, Cody was already leaving the scene.

"Cody, wait!" Hibiki called to him, trying to stop the young teen from fleeing again.

"I can't stay here for long, Hibiki…" He responded, still in his rider armor, but still limping from the fight.

"But you're injured!" she pointed out.

"I'll be fine… Besides… I can't endanger you too.." The yellow grasshopper responded softly, "Anyways, I set the machine to return you and your friends back to your home-base. All you have to do is press the button on the steering wheel" he instructed her.

"Please… don't go…" She pleaded with him, with sad, tearful eyes.

However Cody said nothing before leaping away, leaving Hibiki to care for her teammates alone.

'_I promise… I won't give up on you, Cody…' _Hibiki said with determination.

She then slid into the driver's seat and pressed the button, lowering the doors of the vehicle before the auto-pilot took over and began driving back to Lydian.

XXX

_Meanwhile..._

Ichigata and Horbi continued to clash, each strike sparking off with blinding speeds as the racing hopper was still on the offensive against the scorpion, both unable to give an inch.

"I grow tired of this…" he growled before activating his finisher once again.

_**STING DYSTOPIA!**_

Knowing this could do some major damage to his body, Ichigata neglected but had no choice other than to counter as he gripped his lever and forced it closed and reopened it again, much like his opponent.

_**ROCKING SPARK!**_

"Rider Jump!" he declared before leaping into the air.

Horobi simply stood still as the stinger on his forearm extended and wrapped around his leg, as he never looked away from the heroic rider before he came flying down with a punch.

"Rider Punch!" Ichigata shouted.

With a huff, Horobi counted the fist with a kick, as the stinger connected with the punch, as shockwaves and surges of energy broke from it, only to end with an explosion, pushing the two riders away from each other.

"So this is the power of the legendary 'Kamen Rider'? Impressive. Sadly, our time ends here." Horobi informed, as he powered down and began to walk away.

As Horobi disappeared, Ichigata took a moment to stare at where the scorpion Rider once stood before leaving as well.

"Ugh… man.. I'm getting old for this stuff…" He sighed, as he too changed back to normal as he turned around and noticed he not only was all alone… but no ride to get back to base. "Welp, haven't had a good jog in awhile."

The red-haired man said before he began to literally jog back to home-base with no problem.

XXX

At ZAIA...

"Cody!" Yua cried out as she saw Izu bring in a very injured Cody.

"Hey….. seems we have some new problems other than me?" He joked, trying to chuckle but grunting in pain in response. "Ow… it hurts to laugh…"

Soon both Yua and Izu worked to help bandage up Cody, while at the same time learning about what he found.

"I see… so this Metsubojinrai was behind the rogue Humagears…" Yua noted

"Yeah… but I don't know who exactly they are, where they came from, or who even made them…" He nodded in response, "And knowing Gai? He won't accept that…"

"I think so…" she agreed before shaking off her doubt, "Even still, you should have been more careful when encountering them. You could have died!" she scolded the boy in a manner that almost resembled that of an older sibling.

"Aren't I technically already dead?" He pointed out, earning a harsh, yet soft slap on the head. "Ow! I was only joking!" he said as he tried to defend himself.

Yua sighed heavily, "Still… you almost gave me a heart attack…"

"From my scan, he would not be able to actively be in the field for at least a few weeks." Izu informed the two.

"Good, I don't want him to come back to us in a bodybag…" Yua agreed before shaking her head.

"Ugh, I'm fine. I'm just banged up." Cody sighed, only to flinch in pain before groaning, "S-See? Just banged up."

"No if's and's or but's. You're staying." Yua said, before she took the driver from him, "And I know as long as you don't have this, you won't do anything reckless."

"Fine…" Cody noted before lying down on his bed, but not before noticing a letter on his desk. "Say, what's that?" he asked her.

"Why don't you open it and see?" Yua smirked softly.

The young blonde did so, as his eyes scanned the writing inside before his eyes softly widened.

"I'm… being accepted into Lydian?" He got out, looking at her, "But.. how? I thought Gai wouldn't let me even be seen outside?"

"You're using an alias of course…" she noted as she gave him his ID.

"Huh… Koji Amamiya…" he noted as he looked at the fake photo of him with black hair and a pair of grey-frame glasses.

"While Gai did have a room prepped for you, he will allow it just so he can get more data from you." She sighed, "That was his agreeance to it." However before Cody could say a word, Yua quickly said, "However… I do not want to hear any funny business when you come back from school. If that happens, we're pulling you out immediately, got it?"

"I won't be joking around…" He admitted, with a serious tone, "This will be the best chance I get to truly reunite with Hibiki and Miku… I don't want to screw that up."

"Indeed, I can see why you're so determined to see your sister and your girlfriend…" Yua sighed before smiling

"S-She's not my girlfriend!" He cried out with a heavy blush.

"Your face says otherwise~" she gleefully pointed out with a smile.

"That doesn't mean anything…" He grumbled from the teasing.

It seemed like things were mostly back to normal. As Yua said goodnight to the boy, she could not help but remember the first time she met him almost two years ago.

—

XXX

_FLASHBACK_

_As Yua was called into ZAIA that day, she wasn't expecting to see not only the appropriated Humagear that was received when ZAIA bought out Hiden so long ago, but seeing the gynoid counselling a young boy who was curled up on the couch._

"_Sir? What is this?" Yua questioned the CEO._

"_This… is Cody Aldrich" Gai told her as he walked into the room holding a clipboard, "We found him after the explosion occurred at the stadium earlier today."_

"_He's a survivor from the attack? Why do we have him then? Shouldn't he be with anyone else who survived?"_

_She was soon given the clipboard which had some of Cody's information, including who his biological father was… and beyond._

"_This is…." Yua got out as she looked at the boy then to Gai, "But… I thought Hiden didn't have any children?"_

"_That's what I thought after I bought the company" he noted, "That is until I started digging a little further and found this placed on my desk…" He soon grumbled something about the Starks before turning to Yua, "For now, let's at least approach him with a bit of kindness. If his father is who we think he is, then we just found the key to unlocking Zea's true potential…"_

_The doors opened as the two adults walked in, causing Izu to back up as Cody simply looked at them with cold, dead eyes._

"_Who are you?" he blankly asked._

"_My name is Gai Amatsu, CEO of ZAIA Japan" the man introduced himself, "I am very sorry for your loss Mr. Aldrich"_

"_L-Loss?" He questioned._

"_Yes… you were the only one who survived that ordeal." he lied to the boy._

_This of course, took Yua aback, as she knew there were more survivors._

"_Wha… this can't be happening…" Cody muttered as he took a seat to hear what they had to say._

"_It's true… We were there to try to deal with the threat, but by the time we got there, we only found you. I'm sorry, young man…" Gai responded, though a soft smirk behind his fake smile._

_Cody's eyes began to water as he began to cry and vent those feelings. But as he does, Izu flinched as her eyes lit up as a screen appeared and began to reveal a locked area, "DNA Code: Hiden, received. Unlocking Zero-One Vault in response to emotions and threat of Ark" the assistant Humagear responded._

"_I see…" Gai muttered as he looked at the screen with intent._

_Soon, Cody turned towards Yua, who was looking at him with concern. And out of the blue, the young boy hugged her as he began to cry into her arms, something that surprised her as she didn't want that, yet she couldn't say no as she patted his head while comforting the grieving young boy._

"_There there…" she reassured him, "It'll be alright…" _

_After a while, the boy let go of the woman as he realized what he shouldn't have done. "I'm sorry about that…" he apologized, "I should have realized that you might not have wanted to be hugged so suddenly…"_

"_It's okay… you needed that." She smiled, reassuring him as she patted his head, "Just be strong ok? You just unlocked something very important."_

"_You sure?" he asked her, confused by what she meant._

"_Of course. For now, think of me like your sister." She said with a soft smile._

"_O-okay…" the boy sighed as Gai walked up to him and began discussing things with him, allowing Yua some time for herself to collect her thoughts._

_X_XX

Since then, she slowly started to get attached to the young boy, as he reminded her of her young brother who died in a Noise attack long ago. She at first only did so because of the job, but lately, she's started to care about him more, realizing that even if they're not bound by blood, they do see one another as family.

She then walked towards her room where she had a photo of herself when she was younger and a young boy with wild black hair hanging out in the park.

"You know Fuwa, If you were still around, I think you and Cody could have been the best of friends…" she said to the photo, as if she was talking to the boy in the photo.

"Seems you are still having your head in the clouds." Gai said, as he was in the hallway, arms crossed.

"Oh, sir!" she quickly gasped, straightening herself back up, "I didn't know you were there!"

"I was expecting you to be ready to send the brat to Lydian. Yet here you are reminiscing about old times" he grumbled.

"I already gave him the letter sir" she informed him.

Gai soon nodded his approval," Very well.. Did you inform him of his mission to deal with a few Humagear that was discovered?" The CEO inquired further

"Indeed, but it seems like he encountered something else…" she told him.

"And that would be…?" He questioned, expecting a report from her.

A few minutes later, he was informed about the encounter with Metsubojinrai and the other Riders.

"Hmm… Metsubojinrai… So it seems she's started her quest." Gai muttered to himself. "Cancel the trip to Lydian. He needs to deal with them right now."

"It seems so, but that's not all.." she notes, "We found where the Ark could possibly be…"

"Explain, now…" Gai stated firmly before showing some data that Zero-One was able to get out of Balto's Progrise Keys.

"From what I could gather, none of Vulcan's Keys are registered anywhere in Zea's database. On top of Rocking Hopper having the same wavelength as these Keys…" she noted.

"So either they made it themselves… or The Ark made it for them. Interesting…" Gai noted. "Then after we deal with Metsubojinrai, we can focus on Section 2. Send the brat out at once." He ordered, ready to walk away to his office.

"Right away sir!" she said as Gai left the hallway. But after he does, she looks back at the photo of Fuwa before looking away, '_Am… I'm doing what's right for him…?'_ She pondered in her thoughts.

XXX

Back in Section Two, Hibiki was running alongside several doctors trying to keep Tsubasa and Balto alive.

The young girl's thoughts racing around, only to soon flinch as she felt a cold touch to her cheek, causing her to freak out for a second, only to see the professor there with something to drink.

"Something to calm your nerves." Ryoko offered.

"T-Thank you…" she said, taking the drink.

"Don't try to worry. While this has been the most injured they've ever been in. They'll pull through. Those two's wills are strong." Ryoko reassured her.

"I hope so…" she muttered before taking a sip, "You know, I wonder what Tsubasa wanted to talk to me about before Metsubojinrai attacked us?"

"Well, once she's awake and better, you can ask her then." Ryoko smiled, "Now… tell me about this boy that makes your vitals sky rocket?" She teased the young girl.

"E-Eh?!" she gasped, "Wh-what do you mean by that? You mean the evil Riders?"

"I mean this 'Cody'? If I recall from the audio logs?" she smirked, "Everytime you speak his name, I notice a spike in your vitals. So tell me about him. I love to hear about young love."

Immediately Hibiki dropped her teacup to try and cover her face. "It's not like that!" she cried out.

"Then tell me what you like about the boy? There must be something that's causing you to have these spikes?" She asked, trying to be more casual with the questions.

"It's just… I thought he had died for the longest time. So when I saw him, it felt like the weight I had became lighter…" she explained.

"Oh? 'Lighter', huh?" Ryoko giggled, "Well, just make sure you know what you're doing. I remember my first time in love too."

"Y-You were in love, Ryoko?" Hibiki turned to her before timidly asking, "I.. would like to know more."

The request was a bit surprising to Ryoko as she looked like she was about to answer but stopped. She only smiled, "I'll tell you when you're older. These tales are more… 'mature' than you think." She stated. "Just make sure that you don't wait to tell him. You may never know when you could lose him again." Ryoko said to the young girl as she stood up and walked away, leaving the girl there to stew in her thoughts.

"What should I do…?" she asked herself before turning towards the door, where doctors were able to stabilize the duo before they flatlined?

XXX

Within ZAIA….

Yua watched from afar as Cody slept, the young boy exhausted and healing from the fight from before as Izu informed her that if he did anything strenuous could cause problems in the future. She was even wondering if Gai cared about his health over his desire to use Ark and Zea?

Nevertheless, she soon sighed as she began to look towards her own Progrise Key, an orange key that had a cheetah imprinted into it with the words Rushing Cheetah.

"Is there something wrong, Yua-san?" Izu asked her as the Humagear had taken notice of the woman gazing at her Progrise Key.

"I'm… worried…" She responded, "I'm worried that Gai might be pushing Cody too far. I'm planning on testing one of the RaidRisers that's currently in development to see if I could at least lessen his burden along with gatherin more solid combat data…"

"Cody-sama did mention that once. That Gai could be caring more about the data than him… and you." Izu stated, earning a shocked look from Yua. "He said that he worries that Gai is wanting for him to die, so the DNA Lock on Zea would need a new ID to access it and thinks he's using you to do that."

"I sometimes wonder that myself…" she admitted, "Even still, I can imagine that having two Operators on the field would greatly decrease encounters to end like the one with Metsubojinrai."

"In any case, I shall watch over Cody-sama for now…" Izu informed her

"Thank you Izu. I need to go into town anyways for some personal supplies in the morning." Yua thanked her.

"Please sleep well, Yua-sama." Izu bowed to her.

—

The next day, Yua was walking around town to grab some breakfast for the bedridden Cody.

She figured a nice breakfast upon waking up would do him some good as she made her way to town. The young woman found a nice store as she began to look through the stock and find what she needed.

After paying for the food, she soon walked out only to find a pair of siblings walking to school, an older brother with white hair and a younger sister with longer red hair.

"Pietro… I want that!" The young girl whined, wanting a certain toy that was on the shelf, bugging her brother to buy it for her.

"Come on Wanda, you know we don't have time to buy something today. We have school to attend to after all…" the boy told her as he pulled her away.

"But I really want it! It's so cute and reminds me of our dog…" The girl known as 'Wanda' pleaded.

"Fine.. I promise we'll buy that after classes, does that sound okay to you?" the boy said after giving in.

"Yay! Thank you, Pietro!" She beamed happily, hugging him.

"No problem, now come on, we don't want to be late" he said before the two walked off.

Yua smiled softly from the conversation. It was cute, and reminded her so much of her and Fuwa when they were both younger. Remembering how he'd find a toy and pleaded to her to get it, and usually she gives in.

All of a sudden however, there was a siren blaring in the distance as Section 2 soldiers rushed in attacking what seemed to be another Magia, this one being a large Magia with large claw-like boots and a yellow bird-like head.

"Looks like a Terrorbird-type Magia…" she realized as the battle waged on.

"Pietro!" Wanda called out, as it seemed that a few Magia sneaked in the back as one was ready to cut down the small boy.

"Look out!" she shouted before running towards the boy and pushing him away. She then maneuvered her body away from the machine's blade, preventing it from cutting her up but causing her coat to have a few slashes.

"Are you two okay?" she asked them.

"Y-yeah, you saved us…" Pietro said as he looked at the soldiers trying to fight the Trilobite Magia in the area.

"Come on, let's get you two to the shelter." Yua offered, as the two kids held her hands as she began to lead them to the safety of the shelter.

Meanwhile, one of the Section 2 soldiers took out a blue ShotRiser not unlike Balto's. "Alright, time to see if this thing works!" he shouted as he raised up a Progrise Key, one with a pale yellow print and a jackal imprinted on it. However before he could press the button, a Noise appeared and attacked him, turning the man into dust.

"Oh my gosh, they killed Kenny!" another one of the soldiers gasped, "You bastards!"

The Magia responded as it began to attack the soldiers, leaving Yua and the kids alone for a mere moment as the young woman looked at the ShotRiser before she picked it up.

She soon had a memory flash before her, one that had haunted the woman her whole life...

XX_X_

_Flashback _

"_Fuwa!" Yua cried out, as she was under some rubble as the young boy seemed to be drawing the attention to the Noise that were causing the accident._

_Fuwa was trying his best to run as fast before he was able to reunite with his sister._

"_Thank goodness you're okay!" she said as she hugged him tight._

"_Sis… I… I need you to be strong, okay?" He said to her, his voice sounding weak._

"_Wha…" she wondered before she took a look at Fuwa… who was slowly turning to ash._

"_I… I know you can… do good. Just promise me… you won't give into this harsh world… okay?" He requested with a smile as tears ran down his face, "I… love you… Yua…." He said, before the young boy soon became ash in her arms, leaving no trace of the young boy._

_Heartbroken, Yua fell to her knees as she tried to call for her brother's name._

_X_XX

"Don't give into the harsh world…" Yua repeated those words, tears down her face as she gripped the ShotRiser tightly. "I promise Fuwa… I will do that." She said, before taking out her Progrise Key as she pressed it.

_**DASH!**_

After spinning it around in her hand for a moment, she then placed it into the ShotRiser.

_**AUTHORISE!**_

_**KAMEN RIDER. KAMEN RIDER. KAMEN RIDER.**_

She then took the belt that Kenny had left behind as she wrapped it around her waist, locking it in. She soon placed the Riser back onto the slit of the belt as she gripped the trigger.

"Henshin." she called out, before pulling the trigger.

_**SHOTRISE!**_

She then took a running start for the Terrorbird Magia while the bullet ricocheted off of it and formed into her Rider armor.

_**RUSHING CHEETAH!**_

**[Try to outrun this demon to get left in the dust]**

The armor, while mostly white much like Vulcan, also had an orangish coloring to the other side, similar to Vulcan. But the theme this time was more feline as it had resemblance to a Cheetah, than a Wolf.

Thinking fast, Yua landed a powerful kick that sent the Magia flying before beginning to pant from the new rush that came from the change.

"Woah… that onee-chan became so cool!" Wanda called out with glee.

"I need you two to find a place to hide for now. I'll be dealing with these Magia." She ordered the two kids, as they nod and do so.

"Alright, no more running…" she told herself, "This time, I'll make sure that no one else will have to suffer from your kind ever again!"

She soon began to speed through several of the Magia that were attacking the area, taking them down with either a few well-placed kicks, or some blasts from her ShotRiser.

The speedster was able to slowly start getting the hang of this power, realizing when using its ability in full use, it allows her to slightly slow down her perspective to fight and defend against the oncoming attacks.

However while she was able to zip around the battlefield easily, she was more susceptible to damage and could only speed up in short bursts, much like a real cheetah could only run for a short amount of time.

She soon stopped as she saw the bird Magia that was causing this problem. It turned to her as he launched several shards of feathers at her, making her dodge as she noticed they were sharp like blades and shooting out like bullets.

"_**kIll hUmAN…" **_It announced, showing how corrupted it became.

As she glared at the machine, she soon engaged it in combat, landing several blows on it while deflecting it's feathers with a few shots from her blaster.

The Magia seemed to react as it launched its feathers once more, it rushed after them and upon getting close, clawing at her as sparks casted from the strike. It seemed to have been learning from her and evolving from its combat. That meant it was dangerous and needed to be stopped soon.

Thinking fast, Yua decided to try something risky and activated the finisher.

_**DASH!**_

After baiting the bird into getting it's head stuck in a nearby tree, she soon dashed around said tree while firing off several blasts into it.

_**ラ**_

_**ッ**_

_**シ**_

_**ン**_

_**グ**_

_**ブ**_

_**ス**_

_**ラ**_

_**ス**_

_**ト**_

The rain of blasts soone combined into a ball of energy as it gathered around the Magia, only for it to detonate and explode, sending the powerful blast and energy at the Magia, as it was soon destroyed.

_**R**_

_**U**_

_**S**_

_**H**_

_**I**_

_**N**_

_**G BLAST!**_

"Mission complete…" she stated before dis-engaging her transformation.

Soon the sirens of Section Two begin to get closer to the scene, meaning she had to leave. Though as she does, the two kids wave to her happily, making her wave back with a smile.

XXX

After she got back to ZAIA, she soon looked at the ShotRiser she had in her hands along with the groceries and the wig and glasses that were surprisingly still intact despite all that happened.

"What is my life…" she sighed, "I go to get breakfast for Cody, and I come back as a Progrise Operator, or I guess the media's term for them, Kamen Riders..."

"Something that shocked me as well, Miss Yaiba." Gai said, entering her view.

"Mr. Amatsu!"

"Didn't expect you to have the potential either…" He noted as he looked at the devices in her hands, "But, guess that just means I did well by investing in you." She soon sighed as he walked up and picked up the disguise. "I assume this is what Cody will be using to infiltrate Lydian?" he asked her.

"Yes sir." She nodded.

"Very well… Just make sure he's ready to fight. I would rather have this 'Mestubojinrai' out of commision soon." He said, showing he was truly willing to sacrifice the young boy.

He soon walked away while Yua just stared at him, feeling a pit in her stomach from hearing that.

XXX

Later that day, Hibiki was walking to class, still concerned about Tsubasa and Balto's health. That was when she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh.. sorry about that.." The person responded, as it sounded like a boy.

"T-That's fine, I wasn't really looking…" she said before looking towards the boy, "Umm, who are you?" she asked.

"I'm uh… Koji." He introduced, fixing his glasses as it seemed they were slightly loose on his head, causing them to slightly drop down on his face. "I just transferred here…"

"Oh, I didn't know there would be some new transfer students!" she gasped before she thought to herself, '_Then again, my mind wasn't really on new classmates at the time…'_

"I-It kinda was thrown upon me out of nowhere too." He chuckled softly.

"You want me to show you around?" she asked him, "I know that I'm new here myself, but I think I know where most of the places are…"

"I'd like that, thank you." He smiled softly.

As the two walked away, Yua hid in the shadows, recording the interaction from afar. "Infiltration successful" she noted, "It seems that we can confirm that at least one of the armored girls studies in this school. Though there is no sign of the sword maiden or Vulcan…"

_[Then that would mean they are still out of commision.] _Gai's voice rang from her earpiece, _[For now, keep observing the two, I can imagine that if Cody can get close to her, then we'll be able to get close to the Ark's location.]_

"Do we really need to have him risk his safety to find it? I'm sure there's a data lock that could give us-"

_[It's the only lead we have Yaiba, it's not like your newly obtained ShotRiser is giving us anything other than it's statistics…] _Gai begrudgingly admitted.

"R-Right Sir.. Please forgive me." She apologized.

_[That's fine, it's not like we could do anything about this…] _he sighed, _[Just be ready if the sword maiden or either Operator from Section 2 catches onto you…]_

"And… that would be…?"

_[Eliminate them.]_

Yua flinched at that. While she had no quarrel with the idol, the other boy was too young to be killed for it, same with the girl. She could only trust Cody and hope it would never come to that.

XXX

Author's Note:

HackerEX: Yo! HackerEX and Striberx here! Looks like we finished this chapter in the nick of time because Zero-One's back on the air with proper episodes this time around!

Striberx: Yup! Meaning not only giving us more info for this story, but also a small surge of creativity to write.

HackerEX: Eyup, starting with this chapter debuting Yua's Rider form

Striberx: Along with more for Yua in this story. As we hinted at early on, with the previous chapters. She is looking over Cody and both are having a slight brother-sister dynamic, so we wanted to focus a bit more on that, of course we still saved a few things for later, but the main one for her to finally take action is now done.

HackerEX: It also allows us to avoid the problem that Zero-One fell with in putting too much story focus on Vulcan. I mean don't get me wrong, we still have some stuff for Balto, but I do not want him to overshadow Cody or even Yua and Gai.

Striberx: Right, we need to stretch things out for our characters here to make them feel like they do fit within Symphogear.

HackerEX: On that note, you've noticed that some of these chapters have been using OC Magias based on other extinct animals, like the infamous Phorusrhacids, aka the Terror Bird

Striberx: Right. While we know of them having some keys, we felt like that Metsubojinrai needed more than the ones established, thus giving us more time to add chapters but also give them more than simply monster of the week stuff too.

HackerEX: It also allows us to add in some extinct animals that we felt like could have made for some cool Magia designs, like I already have ideas for Magias based on a few other creatures like the Smilodon or Giant Ground Sloth.

Striberx: Of course, the obvious things being the dinos, we're unsure to add just yet, cause they could be used in the Zero-One movie.

HackerEX: That also doesn't mean that the Raiders are going to get ignored either, there will be Raiders later on in the story, probably around either G or GX, but for now, we wanted to try and fill out the Magia roster with a few more animals before bringing them in.

Striberx: And we'll even have new chap ideas to not only pan things out to get out characters developed more, but also so we don't speed along with Symphogear. Gotta add things to make this idea work after all.

HackerEX: Pretty much so, I mean I know that the past two chapters had us speeding through several episodes at once, but we'll be adding in ideas from multiple episodes together to try and make a narrative that's both familiar to Symphogear fans and at the same time allows the Zero-One OCs to get their chance to shine.

Striberx: Right. And now that we got Cody in Lydian, we can slow down a bit and work on our chemistry and development for those we need to.

HackerEX: Yup, and one more thing. I know that we've added a ton of Marvel references like mentioning the Starks or referencing the Maximiov twins, but I'm honestly might be against adding in full-on Marvel heroes into this since they could easily break the story.

Striberx: Yeah. References and just the names are fine. But we're not making this a triple crossover. Those can be quite hard to keep track of. So don't worry on thinking that Spidey or the Hulk will appear.

HackerEX: Yeah, it's best to keep these as fun nods to Marvel and not have someone like Iron Man show up here, even though he might be the only Marvel hero who could theoretically appear without breaking the story… until you remember what crazy stuff Tony can do. I mean, anyone remember Endgame?

Striberx: Yeah. And also to talk about one last thing cause I know a few have already… The reason why I have Hibiki as the ship… Now, don't get me wrong at all. I have no problem with how Symphogear went, I liked it actually. I only do ships on characters that I really like, or ones I think would fit with the story. So don't think that this is just me "hating on gays" cause thats not it.

HackerEX: It's also the reason why I'm on the fence for shipping Rex Gallus or Balto with some people due to this, along with some other factors that are a bit personal. Though while Rex Gallus is a definite NO on shipping, I'm still in an open mind for Balto.

Striberx: Either way, whatever you think is the reason for our shipping decisions? Isn't the case. Now that's done with, we hope you enjoy the chapter and story for now. ^^

HackerEX: Be sure to tell us what you think about this chapter via a review along with the usual fave and follow. Until then, we're logging out! See ya!

Striberx: Dm's are fine too. And remember to at least be understanding and not some dick about it. Until then, later minna.


	4. Chapter 4: Rage of The Maiden's Heart

Senki Zessho Symphogear: A Cybernetic Touch

~A tale of the valkyries and the beasts that follow them…~

* * *

Chapter 4: Regretful Times - Rage of The Maiden's Heart -

* * *

_**WARNING: I own none of these characters sides from my OC(s). All rights go to their respective owners and properties.**_

_**This is nothing more than, well a fanfic, a story made up by a fan for entertainment and knowledge.**_

_**Everything in this fic is not canon and is only meant to give the audience a new idea of the works of each of the franchises in this story.**_

_**So please support me, my work and have some fun. Now enjoy the story. ^w^**_

* * *

_As the car drove up to Lydian, the door opened as 'Koji' walked out, fixing his glasses with annoyance. The young teen arrived at the school and dorm, as he still was wary of this idea. Izu was accompanying him as they made a 'backstory' of being part of a manufacturing line that allowed him to have a HumaGear around._

"_Why are these frames so loose?" 'Koji' complained._

"_I can adjust them when we reach your dorm room, Koji-sama." Izu responded, already going into character to blend in._

"_Alright…" he noted before spotting Tsubasa's room as he saw the bluenette in the window, just staring out at the academy._

"_Seems she's doing better too." Koji noted._

"_It seems so…" Balto agreed... _

_...Wait Balto?!_

_Immediately Koji yelped as he saw the very bandaged up Balto standing by his side, his arm still in a cast while having his head wrapped in bandages and a medical eyepatch covering his left eye, while he seemed better, it was obvious he only just got discharged from his room._

"_You're the new kid, eh?" the boy questioned._

"_U-Uh… Yes. Koji Amamiya." He introduced himself with a bow._

"_Hey now, it's all good…" he reassured the boy, "Name's Balto Asimov, nice to meet you Amamiya-san…" Balto then began to shake his hand with his free hand. _

"_L-Likewise, Balto-san." He responded back as he shaked his hand._

"_So, what brings you here?" the soldier asked him casually._

"_Just finishing with my move into my dorm." He responded softly._

"_I see…" he noted as he looked at the room number. "Huh… #36…" he read aloud before looking towards the boy, "Looks like we're gonna be room mates…"_

"_E-Eh? Really?" He got out, looking at Izu for confirmation as she nodded. "I-I see then…"_

"_Come on, I know the way to the room…" Balto said as he motioned the boy to follow him as he did so._

'_This is gonna be more difficult than I thought…' 'Koji' said within his thoughts with worry._

* * *

_**(Insert Op Song - Heroes - Ryota Fujimaki - Zero and Geed Chronicles)**_

* * *

The song starts with an instrumental, as various multicolored ones and zeros begin to rain down from the sky before transforming into a stampede of multicolored robotic animals, all lead by a yellow robotic grasshopper, running through a hexagonal tunnel of sound. Once the grasshopper leaped through an orange ring of sound, it soon transformed into the series titles

_**[Hikari no naka de, Yami ga umarete, Ookiku hakari wo, Kuzushiteshimau toki]**_

It soon jumps to Cody watching the clouds go by. As he gets up, he is greeted by Hibiki and Miku, who are happily waiting for him. However when he walks towards them, they are spied on by Yua, who is recording data for Gai.

_**[Yamiyo ni sakebi, Chi wo hau monotachi, Machi wa kirisakare, Kizuna wa tatareru]**_

As it soon shifts, we enter a firing range at night, where Balto is practicing his aim. As he takes off the protective gear, he turns to see Tsubasa and as the two walk by each other, the ghost of Kanade appears between them as they share a glance of animosity and regret between them.

_**[Zero ni naru kakugo wa aru ka, Shimei wo eranda senshitachi]**_

It shifts once more first to Genjuro looking through a window as he stares at various screens about Gungnir, Ame-no-Habakiri, as well as data on Shooting Wolf, before transitioning into Gai watching the data for Rising Hopper with a wicked grin. Finally, it jumps to Fine, who is preparing three figures, later shown to be Chris, Horobi, Jin, and Raiden for battle.

_**[Sakete wa toorenu tatakai e, Hikari wo obite, Mae e mae e mae e..]**_

As the four rush into battle, they are confronted by an army of Noise and Magia walking towards them. With each of them ready for battle, the girls begin to sing their song while the boys activated their Progrise Keys. Once they did so, a bright light began to shine onto them as they were transformed.

_**[Susume bokura no hero... Asahi ni inori akatsuki ni chikau. Heiwa no kane wo... Narase hero...]**_

Cody, now as Zero-One Rising Hopper charges into battle, punching and cutting down any monster in his way, as Hibiki runs in behind, mowing down more enemies before the two stop, looking at the three members of in their Rider forms along with Chris in the Nehushtan Armor, before the two turn to one another, holding hands as they stand their ground, ready to take them on. As they charge in, their other allies of Tsubasa, Vulcan, and those who follow him join their lead.

_**[Bokura wa anata kara, Hontou no yuki o shiru]**_

As they fight the monsters, images of new forms are shown behind Cody, namely the Biting Shark, Flaming Tiger, and Freezing Bear form. Afterwards, the same happens to Balto, revealing the Gatling Hedgehog, Punching Kong, and Trapping Spider forms. Once they stand together, a projection of the Breaking Mammoth and Charging Elasmoth mechas appear in their place.

_**[Tataeyo our hero, Tataeyo our hero~]**_

The two Riders charge alongside Hibiki and Tsubasa, their bodies beginning to shine as they leap into battle and create an explosion of light. Once the light fades, it soon shows a young Cody meeting Hibiki as their teenage selves appeared in their shadows.

* * *

After the school day had ended and everyone was asleep, Koji decided to drop the disguise and explore the schoolyard, luckily he had Izu watch him just in case he needed to redon the disguise again.

'Cody' was now looking for any evidence he could find for looking into Ark or even Zea as this was his mission, despite him rather avoiding this.

He started off with his room to see if Balto had kept anything of value at his desk.

"Hmm, i don't see anything too special here…" Cody muttered as he kept looking around.

However as he searched around, he spotted something unusual. It was an old wolf tooth necklace, obviously hand made. The boy picked it up and began to examine it. The necklace given the chips in the tooth along with the black string around it, but the oddest thing was that the tooth itself was completely black, almost like a fossil...

Cody pondered as he tapped his glasses, as a small light blinked from the frames, "Izu? Mind scanning this thing?" He requested as his glasses were also used to scan anything without suspicion.

Afterwards, Izu brought up a few schematics, including the skeleton of a large wolf. "Scanners indicate that this tooth belongs to an extinct species of wolf known as the dire wolf…" she explained.

"Dire wolf, huh? So it's literally just a fossil?" Cody asked.

"Not entirely… What's more, this necklace is emitting a strange energy around it. The energy signature is not as strong as the necklaces that Hibiki-san or Tsubasa-san use, but it does have some power to it." Izu continued, showcasing an energy reading of the fossil.

Cody thought back to the fight that put Balto in this state. He recalled how feral the boy acted and how his attacks almost resembled that of a wild animal. He also recalled seeing the necklace around the boy's neck when he saw him fall to the ground.

"Does it have any connection to Ark?" Cody questioned.

"Maybe, some of ZAIA's studies on Ark have shown that it does house two extince wolf species in it's databanks; the dire wolf and the Japanese wolf…" the HumaGear confirmed.

"Then make a copy to replace this. I'll take it to Zaia once it's ready." Cody requested.

"Very well Cody-sama…" Izu noted before cutting the call.

Hesitant, he put the necklace back and slowly left the room, being careful not to wake up his room mate in the process. An easy task given how loudly Balto snored at night. Once he was in the clear, he went to the next room in the dorm, this time being that of, surprisingly, Hibiki and Miyu.

"D-Do I really have to go in here next?" Cody questioned, a blush on his cheeks from the thought of entering their room.

"It seems so, there is a strange energy reading in the room, one more powerful than the fossil you found earlier…" the assistant HumaGear told him.

"Ugh… please don't let it be something lewd…" Cody muttered as he gulped down his fears and entered the room silently.

He soon noticed the sleeping forms of the two girls he knew two years ago. A heavier blush forming on his face as if he was a night light as he began to look around the room, carefully making sure he didn't make a sound.

As he did, he soon noticed on a small mural a photo of the girls and him when they went to an amusement park once. Old memories swelling up from the sight of it, including the small bracelet he made for them, as it was placed in front of the photo. Not only a reminder but a good luck charm for them to have.

"They still kept it after this long…?" Cody muttered with a sad look on his face.

This however caused Hibiki to stir, alerting the young boy as he quickly found a place to hide and observe.

"Ngh… Miku? Are you sleep talking again…?" Hibiki groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"N-No… What are you talking about?" Miki answered as she started to wake up as well

"I thought I heard something…." She said, as the lamp near them was turned on for them to see if there was anything different in the room.

Luckily, everything was in place, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Of course, Hibiki only got up as she walked over to the mural, gently touching the bracelet with a sorrowful look.

"You still miss him, don't you?" Miku asked.

"Every moment…." She nodded. "There's so much I wanted to tell him… So much time I wish we all could spend together for…"

This caused Cody to tear up underneath the bed as he thought about what could have been had the Terror of Angels incident had not happened...

Miku soon came up and hugged Hibiki from behind, also having a sorrowful look on her face. "I know you do… as do I. But we have to try and move on… for him and many others, we have to so they can watch over us in peace." She said to her.

"But I swear… I just know he's still out there, Miku. I know it in my heart." Hibiki said.

Miku only smiled softly, "Even though we adopted him, you two always had a deeper connection. Kinda wished you had the chance to tell him the truth."

'_The truth?'_ Cody questioned in thought hoping they could continue so he can learn more.

However before he could, Miku yawned out in response, still tired. "I know you wanted to tell him how much you were in love with him. But let's discuss this for later, it's still very late." Miku said, as she and Hibiki went back to sleep soundly.

As he left the room undetected, he took a deep breath and walked through the halls to find Tsubasa's room. During this, he tried to collect his thoughts about what he had just heard.

'_Hibiki…. Has been in love with me, all this time….?' _Cody got out in his thoughts. The teen had these feelings about Hibiki too, but he believed it was just affection from their time together. But "in love"? That was… something he didn't expect.

Cody was just lost in thought as he kept walking, his mind jumbling with all of this information as he was trying to process but also fix himself back on track, but it just wouldn't leave his mind.

Hibiki….

Loves him….

Him, of all people….

Those few words kept repeating themselves over and over even when he was doing his best to focus. He just couldn't continue right now as he stopped and went back to his room, wanting to just sleep this off as he hoped it would clear his mind finally.

'_Just what am I going to do, now that I know this…?' _Cody groaned out before he closed his eyes and let slumber soon take him over.

XXX

As the morning came, Cody quickly got up and did his morning routine before his room mate woke up. As he put on his disguise and readjusted his glasses, he felt a cold hand being placed onto his shoulder.

"Yes, Izu?" Cody questioned without looking.

"Is everything okay, Cody-sama?" she asked him.

"I-It's complicated, Izu…" He responded back.

"Is it about last night?" she asked him.

Cody remained silent, only a faint blush on his cheeks before slowly nodding.

"I-I…. I don't know what to do Izu…. now that I know what Hibiki feels about me…. I don't know how to even approach her, even as this fake persona…." He said, before looking to her for advice, "What should I do, Izu?"

"I… do not know…" Izu admitted, looking down with a bit of confusion. "I apologize, I am not that knowledgeable in courtship…"

"It's alright…" Cody reassured her as he patted her head, "Thanks for hearing me out though…" Regardless of his stances on HumaGears, ever since he was connected to Izu upon unlocking the Zero-One System, he's always trusted her even if she forgets about some personal rules he told her about, here and there.

"You praise me too much, Cody-sama." Izu said, as she bowed.

"Hehe, only because you're the one who listens to me the most." Cody chuckled.

As he turned to open the door, he was greeted by a very groggy Balto.

"You finally done in there?" the soldier asked him whilst rubbing his eyes, "You were in there for like, an hour…"

"Yeah. Rough night?" 'Koji' responded to the roommate.

"Yeah…" he yawned, "Man, sleeping with one arm is such a pain in the ass…"

"Maybe get one of those pillows that allows you to sleep with your cast on?" Koji commented.

"I'll keep that in mind…" Balto took note.

XXX

Meanwhile in the mansion, Horobi was helping fix up Jin and Raiden after their close encounter with the Kamen Riders

"Seems you severely underestimated them, Horobi." Fine said, as she watched from afar with an amused smirk.

"A mistake I am not willing to make…" the scorpion Rider exclaimed as he checked on his surrogate son.

"Yet, both you and my pet, failed at simply capturing them. Seems to me, even HumaGears make mistakes." Fine taunted, as she looked behind her, only to see the girl from before, shivering from the torture that she had recieved from failing.

"Is she going to be okay?" Jin asked rather innocently

"She is fine. Just a punishment for failing me is all." Fine said, "You should be worrying about yourselves should you keep failing me. I reactivated you all, I can deactivate you too." She threatened the HumaGears.

"Yeah, but then again we didn't expect the mutt or the grasshopper to be working with those two Symphogear users…" Raiden noted after he finished his system check.

"Then make plans. Alter them, and adapt. That's what your AI is meant for." Fine said with a frown.

As Raiden glared back, the lone female of the Metsubojinrai quartet stepped forward, "Fine-sama, may I go out to scout the next Magia?"

"Yes, that sounds good, Naki. Also…. Summon a few Noise to make things hectic for Section 2." She said, handing the Scepter of Solomon to her.

"As you wish…" she stated before leaving.

"Horobi, I have a different task for you…" Fine told him, "I want you to find the location of this… Kamen Rider Zero-One…"

"And is just merely finding his location more than you need?" Horobi questioned.

"There's some data I need from that Operator's databanks… I sense that he's holding something that could be of interest to us" the woman answered.

"Very well." Horobi nodded as he got up and already went on his way.

XXX

Back in Lydian, Koji was listening to his lectures when he noticed Hibiki arriving late to class again.

"Tachibana-san…. Late again, I see?" The teacher scolded her with a disappointed look.

"G-Gomen…" she apologized as she took her seat a row below Koji

Oddly enough, he leaned down and whispered to her to cheer the girl up, "To be fair, class has been boring, like watching old people order takeout." He joked, trying to cheer her up from the scolding.

She giggled, although that ended up with Koji getting into the teacher's crosshairs. As if she were a ninja, the teacher threw her chalk right at the poor boy's face.

"Ite!" He flinched in response as he rubbed his face from it.

"What was that about my classes being boring?" she snarled at him, causing him to freeze up. "You know, if you're going to insult my classes, at least have the courtesy to say it to my face…" the teacher grumbled.

This caused the whole class to laugh while Hibiki seemed a bit guilty, but overall amused. But despite the humility, seeing Hibiki smile more than sad made 'Koji' feel better as he continued on with class as well.

Meanwhile, Tsubasa was watching the sky when Balto arrived with his schoolbag and a folder in hand.

"Hey there, Tsubasa" he greeted as he closed the door behind him.

"Hey yourself." Tsubasa smiled softly, "Out already, huh?"

"What can I say? I tend to recover a bit better than you do" he joked.

"Says you, I still remember that limp I gave you on our first sparring. Couldn't run for two weeks." Tsubasa smirked, teasing with a giggle as she seemed to be doing better as well.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" the boy sighed as he placed the folder onto her table, "Here, thought I might get you something to work on while you're here…"

"Thanks." She said, taking the folder and opening it up, "Heh, calculus? Still having troubles with that?" Tsubasa teased.

"Dude, this is your homework, not mine!" Balto tried to say as he looked away in a bit of embarrassment.

"Yet it has your name on it." She clarified, showing the paper in question with his name and a crap ton of either answers or frustrated doodles.

The boy flinched, "Crap, must have mixed up the papers…" he yelped as he took back the paper and stuffed it back in his bag.

"Heh, seems even _you're_ back to your old self." Tsubasa giggled, as she smiled before looking down, "I… wanted to say… I'm sorry for how I've been acting towards you…. I….. was a bit too harsh and cold to you, Balto."

"You know, it's kind of water under the bridge, given how many times I got you into trouble…" Balto agreed, rubbing his cast while feeling a bit bashful, "I'm not exactly the _best_ partner you had, that honor goes to sis…"

"True…. But…. I also wouldn't have anyone else be her successor to her training and ways other than you." Tsubasa stated.

"Yeah, but you should at least give that Hibiki kid a chance…" the boy asked her, "I mean, you put up with me for two years or so, so why not handle one more?"

Tsubasa was silent for a moment, before she nodded, "Yeah… I guess you're right, Balto. I should also apologize and make amends with Tachibana."

"Yeah…" he agreed before he realized something, "On that note, what were you going to say that night?" he asked her.

"That… since that day? I lost my best friend… Someone who meant the world to me and I almost threw everything away… Simply because Tachibana had Gungnir. I was scared that Kanade's memories would be tarnished because of her kind heart."

"Yeah, but honestly… I don't see it that way…" Balto admitted, surprising the blue-haired Symphogear user. "From what _I _saw, it's more like Kanade is still protecting the ones she cared about through her. That's what I think.." He soon turned towards him, "Besides, I'm sure that sis wouldn't want us to be so glum about this. Heck, I can imagine that if she were still with us, she'd approve of Hibiki in a heartbeat!"

Tsubasa giggled out once more, nodding in response, "Yeah. You're right, I think she would." She approved, "Maybe… even Zero-One as well?" She added. "He did help us out a few times since we've all met him…."

"Yeah, just wish the two would just get into it…" Balto sighed, "I mean, even _I_ noticed that she's got a thing for her, and you said that I'm dense as a rock when it comes to noticing love!"

"Huh? Tachibana likes Zero-One?" Tsubasa questioned.

"I mean… yeah… I could tell from when he crashed into her three days ago, they didn't move an inch!" Balto recalled.

"Then… could he be her lost friend?"

"Possibly…" he theorized, "I mean, we never really _did_ find the body or his ashes…"

"Well, let's put that aside for now. Mind calling Tachibana here so we can talk?" Tsubasa requested from Balto as he nodded.

"Sure thing." He said, pulling up his RisePhone.

"Also… Balto?" Tsubasa called out, as the teen turned his head, only for the bluenette to gently hug him, "Thank you… for everything."

"Uhh… Aight…" Balto said as he was left a bit frozen by the sudden hug, blushing for a moment as his mind was confused for a moment before calming down. "I gotta go… but first..." he said as he was about to leave, only to turn around and give a kiss on the forehead. "Get well Tsubasa…" the boy told her before walking out of the hospital room.

Tsubasa however, just stood there with a blush on her cheeks from the affection, but she soon smiled in response. Seems even they got to be closer now.

XXX

Meanwhile, Hibiki was heading up to the roof, hearing Balto's request to meet with Tsubasa. The young girl was worried it was gonna be another argument or possible fight, as she took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Ah, Tachibana-san. Please sit." Tsubasa smiled, as she was calm and ready to chat, something that made Hibiki be surprised.

"Uhh, so what did you call me for? Did you need me for something?" she asked hesitantly.

"To talk, actually. Things that we need to clear up from one another." Tsubasa responded.

"Oh, okay then" Hibiki said as she breathed a sigh of relier before she sat next to the idol, "So, what is it you wanted to tell me?"

"I… wanted to apologize. For how I've been treating you, Tachibana…" Tsubasa said before bowing to her, "I… was scared and worried that you would ruin or erase Kanade from us by having her Relic. And all the pent up stress, fear and sadness, I took it out on you. And I'm sorry for my attitude."

"W-Wah? N-No! Please don't be, Tsubasa-san! I have no anger or anything towards you!" Hibiki responded, shocked by her humbleness. "Besides, it's been such an honor fighting alongside you and Balto-kun. Plus, knowing I have Kanade's relic within me? It makes me believe she's watching over us as we fight for others."

"Looks like you and Balto think alike…" Tsubasa laughed as she recalled her partner saying something similar a couple of days ago.

"Hehe, I just guess we connect like friends?" Hibiki chuckled softly.

"I can see why…" she noted.

Hibiki nodded before grasping Tsubasa's hands with determination, "I promise! I'll do my best to make you, Balto, Kanade and everyone else proud! I'll get stronger to protect everyone!"

Tsubasa gave her a nod of approval, "That's good to hear…"

_***BZZT BZZT!***_

Hibiki flinched as she felt her phone ring off as she picked it up, "H-Hai?"

"_Tachibana! We have a Magia running amok in the fisher district. We need your help to intercept and neutralize it." _Genjuro's voice rang out of the phone.

"On it!" the girl affirmed.

"Stay safe, Tachibana." Tsubasa wished as the idol smiled.

She soon nodded and ran off to face the threat. At the same time, Cody got an alert from Yua about a ZAIA Enterprises workplace being under attack.

"Alright, I'll be there soon." He said, putting his RisePhone away as he rushed out, Izu already having his driver and bike ready as he strapped it on and raced off towards the location. The young teen confused as to why they would be targeting that area.

XXX

At said workplace, a ZAIA Enterprises fishery, there were several Trilobite Magia and Noise wandering the area, most of the human workers being turned to dust while the Humagear workers were turned into Magia.

Zero-One, now arriving at the scene, quickly jumped off with his AttacheCalibur, as he came down and slashing through the Trilobite Magia, as he was making sure anyone left uncorrupted or dead could leave.

Meanwhile, Hibiki was fighting off the monsters while rescuing any survivors that she came across. Though as she does, a new Magia gets in her way, striking the user as it seemed to be based off of a Sabertooth Tiger, as it hissed and glared at her, blood from it's previous victims staining it's claws.

As the two clashed, Zero-One spotted the fight from afar. His heart sinking as he sees the Sabertooth Magia and the blood on its claws, worried it could do the same to her, as he slashed the next Magia, only to quickly jump over there to deal with it.

"Get away from her!" he roared in anger.

"Come get this then…" The Magia hissed as it soon rushed off, running from the rider.

"You get back here!" He growled, chasing after it.

"H-Hey! Cody, wait!" Hibiki said, about to try and follow, only for the Noise to stop it. It seemed this wasn't just some normal or random attack.

This was planned from the start...

XXX

"This is Naki, Zero-One's taken the bait…" Naki reported from a safe distance.

'_Good. Do you best to deal with that Gear User, but bring her back alive. Understood?' _Fine responded on the other line.

"Copy that" she acknowledged before approaching Hibiki.

Hibiki turned, seeing the woman, "Who are you? You need to get-" She was about to inform the unknown lady to leave, only to see the HumaGear Headset on it, "You're a HumaGear?"

"I am… and our benefactor has shown some interest towards you, Hibiki Tachibana…" the Humagear answered as Hibiki saw her holding a strange object in her hand.

"Interest?" Hibiki blinked in confusion, before shaking her head, "D-Doesn't matter right now! You need to leave before these Noise harm you!" She said, showing actual concern for a HumaGear, just like Zero-One usually does when they attack them.

However, the Noise didn't seem to bother approaching Naki, in fact, it almost seemed like they were waiting on her for something...

"W-What?" Hibiki gasped.

"Now, it's time you came with us…" the HumaGear stated before placing the device onto her waist as it was actually the ForceRiser from before.

"Y-You're from Metsubojinrai…" Hibiki gulped as she got into a fighting stance.

Naki didn't answer, this time taking out a Zetsumerise Key of her own, one that was grey in color with the appearance of an extinct species of Wolf.

_**JAPANESE WOLF!**_

After inserting it, she summoned a silver mechanical wolf to attack Hibiki, causing the girl to go on the defense against the new enemy.

"P-Please! I don't want to fight you!" Hibiki shouted out.

"I'm sorry… but I must obey my master!" Naki apologized before shouting...

"Henshin!"

At once, she pulled the lever, opening the key and signalling the wolf to 'maul' her.

_**FORCERISE!**_

The wolf soon turned into a gust of wind and ice as armor soon began to form as it quickly placed onto her.

_**JAPANESE WOLF! BREAK DOWN...**_

Its design was like that of a gust of wind, as it was mostly black with white pieces and straps. The top of the hands had small disks on them, before they quickly extended into large claws for the HumaGear to use, as the blue eyes underneath the winded straps glowed softly.

This worried Hibiki as Naki leaped forward to slash at her with her claws. The Symphogear user however blocked the attack with her gauntlets, trying her best to defend herself from the incoming barrage of swipes and slashes.

Once she saw Naki stop, Hibiki retaliated and delivered a strong punch to the face, knocking her back. As Naki landed, she snapped her fingers as the Noise began to pile around Hibiki and attack, causing the young girl to defend herself once more while trying to deal with the Noise attacks.

"W-Why are you doing this?" Hibiki questioned.

"I am merely doing what I am told…" Naki answered before performing an upwards swipe, launching Hibiki into the air for a brief moment.

"Gah!" She cried out as she fell on her back, grunting as she began to get back up.

Afterwards, she delivered several punches to the grey Rider before destroying some of the Noise that were approaching her. As she saw Naki being flanked by more Noise, she put her fists up and readied herself for the long battle ahead of her.

XXX

Meanwhile, Zero-One was chasing after the fleeing Sabertooth Magia on the RiseHopper, the teen angered that Hibiki would even be targeted as he not only wanted to pummel it, but find out what its purpose was.

"Get back here, you lousy cat!" He shouted out, annoyed that he didn't have a projectile weapon..

"Try me, bug boy!" the Sabertooth Magia mocked whilst keeping his distance from the grasshopper Rider.

Annoyed by the insult, Zero-One revved his RiseHopper as he wanted to get closer and beat this Magia, "You're gonna pay for trying to harm, Hibiki!" He shouted out, blade in hand.

As the chase was on, Zero-One noticed a call on his bike's interface.

"Not now…" He groaned before answering it, "Whoever this is, I'm kinda busy!"

It was Izu, albeit a bit beaten up than before. "Aruto-sama, we need your help!" she pleaded with him, "We're under attack!"

"What?!" He gawked, stopping himself.

However before he could realize this, he was blindsided by several Magia that the Sabertooth had with him hiding in the shadows.

"Guh… so you just were playing with me?" Zero-One grunted as he got back up, ready to fight back.

"Heh, we couldn't have you interrupting the boss's mission after all…" the Magia answered before taking out two large fang-shaped swords from it's back.

"Well, I'll just have to cut you down and fly there to stop it!" He declared, lunging at the Magia. The rider clashing his blade with the Magia's, while he turns around to strike down the other Magia that came close to attack.

'_I gotta end this fast!'_ he thought to himself while fighting the hoard of killer machines. Knowing this could get worse, he took out his other Progrise Key, Izu gave him as he clicked it and placed it into the AttacheCaliber.

_**FANG!**_

**PROGRISE KEY CONFIRMED!, READY TO UTILIZE!**

**SHARK'S ABILITY!**

"Take this and die!" Zero-One shouted, as the blade on his AttacheCaliber glowed light blue, before rows of fang-shaped blades form out from it as he swung it around.

_**バ**_

_**イ**_

_**テ**_

_**ィ**_

_**ン**_

_**グ**_

_**カ**_

_**バ**_

_**ン**_

_**ス**_

_**ト**_

_**ラ**_

_**ッ**_

_**シ**_

_**ュ**_

_**BITING! KABAAN SLASH!**_

The row of teeth and the glowing blade swung as he slashed through the Trillobite Magia, dealing with them as they explode in fire, before he turned his sights onto the Sabertooth Magia.

"Alright, time for you to burn in hell for what you've done!" he declared before taking out a red tiger-printed Progrise Key as he pressed the button on it and scanned it.

_**FIRE!**_

_**AUTHORISE!**_

In seconds, a red light beamed down as from it, came a literal cybernetic tiger on fire, as it roared and clawed at the Sabertooth Magia before it started to run around Zero-One before he placed it in and shoved the key into the driver.

_**PROGRISE!**_

_**GIGANT FLARE! FLA~MING~ TI~GER~!**_

**[Explosive power of 100 bombs]**

The resulting transformation added the tiger theme onto his armor, as his old face moved to his hands and the tiger themed formed on his hands, shoulders, chest and face as the blue visor glowed from it as fire was emitting from his body.

"Right now, I'll surge you with my burning soul!" Zero-One announced before launching a stream or red hot fire at the last Magia.

"Ahh! Hot! Hot! Hot!" the Sabertooth Magia cried out as he felt his whole body being torched

"Here, let me help… by turning up the heat!" He shouted, sending another stream of fire at the Magia, making it hard for it to put the flames out while going on the defense.

As the Magia was unable to put out the flames, Zero-One rushed over and clawed at it with the tiger gloves he now has, cutting through the metal surface like a plasma cutter. It made the Magia cry out in pain as it retaliated by thrusting its tusks at him, forcing him up and on the ground.

It took this chance to lunge as it tried to claw and rip off anything armor piece it could see, as it was trying to forcibly cancel the transformation by attacking Zero-One as much as it could, causing him to try and hold back.

"Grah! GET OFF OF ME!" Zero-One roared before plunging his still burning fist into the Magia's chest. Fire was shot into its chest, causing the Magia to wail out as pieces of it either began to melt or explode off its body before it backed up, struggling to stay up.

"I'm ending this, now!" Zero-One shouted before pressing the key. As the Sabertooth Magia backed away in terror, Zero-One's body soon ignited into fire as he rushed towards the Magia in a fiery tackle.

_**フ**_

_**レ**_

_**イ**_

_**ミ**_

_**ン**_

_**グ**_

_**イ**_

_**ン**_

_**パ**_

_**ク**_

_**ト**_

He then slammed his shoulder into the monster's head, melting it into scrap

"Storbium Dynamite!" He shouted out from the attack.

_**F**_

_**L**_

_**A**_

_**M**_

_**I**_

_**N**_

_**G IMPACT!**_

After stopping, the headless Magia fell to the ground and exploded, allowing Zero-One to rush back to the RiseHopper and return to ZAIA to help with liberating it from the Magia

XXX

As that was happening, Hibiki began to fight off the hoard of Noise coming for her, taking each one down while keeping her focus squarely on Naki. Sadly the wolf-like Rider wasn't making things easier for her as the Rider was not only barely doing much other than a few strikes or parries, but she was so fast, Hibiki couldn't even try to counter her.

"Just give up and this will be over for us both." Naki responded.

"No way!" Hibiki shouted, kicking the Rider away before delivering a quick series of punches into her chest.

Naki flinched, as while she was holding back, the HumaGear was able to tell that Hibiki isn't. If she wasn't careful, she'd most likely become scrap at this point…. Or Raiden would be if he was chosen instead.

Thinking fast, she spun around with her claws, creating a spinning vortex that caused Hibiki to back off from her assault. Afterwards, Naki delivered a cross-slash attack that knocked Hibiki away as she grabbed her by the claw and started dragging her through the ground.

'_Not good… she has too much stamina…' _Naki grimaced as she weakly got up.

"If you do not comply, the Magia will destroy Zero-One." Naki threatened.

"W-what?" she stuttered.

"Zero-One drove by, as we were distracting him from our true mission. Though, we were never told if we need to bring him in alive." Naki informed the girl, "And if you don't comply? I'll order the Magia to eliminate him."

This caused something inside of Hibiki to snap, her eyes widening as her anger started to take over. The area began to rumble as a hint of terror began to emit from Hibiki as the scar on her body began to glow, and slowly consume her in a black light.

XXX

"Hibiki, what's going on there?!" Genjuro asked her, however her communicator wasn't working.

"This isn't good. Hibiki's vitals are spiking and changing. We don't know what's going on!" One of the bridge operators announced as they were watching her vitals signs from her Symphogear.

"Damn it! I'll be heading out there, hold down the base until I get back with her!" Genjuro informed, as he headed off to grab his Riser and Key.

After doing so, he soon went towards his bike, an old Suzuki T20 model in lime green, and got on. He then activated the Key as he revved up his bike.

_**KAMEN RIDER!**_

He placed the key within as a gale of wind surrounded him and his bike while the Rocking Hopper jumped out and was following after the commander as he drove out of the hanger.

"Henshin!"

Genjuro then gripped the lever and pulled, forcing the key open just as the bike reached the road.

_**CYCLONE RISE!**_

_**ROCKING HOPPER!**_

_**TYPE-1**_

The armor donned onto Genjuro, now Ichigata as his visor light up as he drove faster, using the key's power and the Cyclone Effect it gives to give him a boost to reach Hibiki as fast as he could.

'_Let me make it in time…_' Ichigata pleaded in his mind.

XXX

"GGRRRAAAUUUGGGHHH!" Hibiki howled out, as the black light consumed her.

As she continued to roar in anger, Hibiki basically started to look like a shadow, with a hint of red as only her body size could be seen, while her eyes and the scar glowed dark yellow, as if she was something else than the sweet girl from before.

"What… what is this power?" Naki gasped, stepping away from the girl as a sense of fear swept over her.

Soon, the berzerk Hibiki glared at Naki, forcing the Humagear to summon more Noise if only to use them as a protective wall for her. Though it didn't matter as with a dash of speed, she easily broke and tore through the wall of Noise like paper.

Naki could only back up as she swiped her claws, sending gusts of wind and ice to try and stop her, but Hibiki only roared as it stopped and outpowered the gusts as it struck Naki and made her slam into a tree from the impact of the attack.

Naki soon struggled to her feet, a part of her helmet damaged to reveal her face. She was terrified by this new power and likely, she was scared to die by this strange power.

Meanwhile, Ichigata had arrived on the scene to find the damage that remnants of the fishery staring him in the face. Most of the facility was destroyed while piles of ashes or Humagear pieces, both normal and Magia alike, littering the ruins while only a few survivors hid in fear.

"Damn it…. Where are you, kid?" Ichigata frowned, only to hear the roar and bang nearby, as he turned his head before rushing over to that area.

What he saw was Hibiki fighting against a now scared Naki, who for the most part was either trying to defend herself or keep out of the Symphogear user's strike range.

Ichigata was in shock to see the girl in such a monstrous state, as she easily kept pushing Naki on the edge. The scared HumaGear attempted to flee once more, but this time, Hibiki was able to grab ahold of her, only to howl as she soon and easily tore the Rider's arm off, as oil and Ai fluid spews from the limb loss.

Naki cried out before Ichigata called out to Hibiki, "That's enough! Stop this at once!"

Hibiki growled as she slowly turned her attention to him, dropping the arm as she slowly began to walk towards him, anger and rage still burning from her eyes as she clenched her fists.

"Kid, I don't want to hurt you…" he warned him as he tried to calm the girl down.

Yet she only roared as the girl lunged at Ichigata, causing him to dodge as she ram through another tree, breaking it like a twig. The veteran knew he had to stop her, but he also couldn't just harm the poor girl as she seemed to be out of control, though going easy wasn't an option either.

"Don't worry kid, your friend is okay. I promise." Ichigata said, as he got into a fighting stance to deal with the raging teen.

He soon performed several punches to the teens' chest, making sure that he focused on restraining her before it was too late. Sparks and chips of her armor flew off from the strikes as she was unable to defend against such swift movements, causing her to fly back once more.

However those attacks were too few and far between, as Ichigata noticed that her attacks were much stronger than he had thought. He soon looked at some of the very damaged parts of his armor that she had struck. A broken chestplate, dented shin-guards, and many, many scratches all across his armor, and finally one of his protective eyes was slightly cracked, but not too cracked that his face would be exposed.

'_Seems I may have to get rougher… Otherwise I don't think I will come out of this unscathed' _Ichigata sighed heavily, as he gripped the lever of his Riser, and pushed it in, shutting the key as it began to build up some wind and energy before he pulled on it once.

_**ROCKING SPARK!**_

His eyes glowed as the metallic scarf around his neck glowed and breathed a green hue as the gust made it seem as if it was flapping heroically before the energy built up into his fist.

"Rider… Punch!"

He then leaped forward, fist jutted out as the berzerk Hibiki responded with delivering her own powerful punch. The fists connected as the blast from the impacts soon caused a powerful burst, sending debris, dirt, grass and rock flying everywhere as the energy exploded from their fists. Luckily though, since he hadn't been in combat for a while and thus hadn't spent that much stamina, he gathered enough wind to overpower Hibiki, breaking through and striking her in the face, sending the girl into the ground below, making a crater.

Ichigata landed as he rushed over, worried he overdone it. Luckily she was fine, if just a bit banged up as she was now resting peacefully. He sighed with relief as he was able to stop her as he picked her up in his arms to take her back to base, only to touch his helmet.

"This is Ichigata, Hibiki is safe now. Sends some ambulances and more for the survivors in this area." He ordered.

As he was about to leave, he spotted Zero-One riding past him, his mind panicking as he was so focused on saving Izu and Yaiba that he didn't even notice the fight or the area as he rushed past the two without a simple look. The veteran Rider knew this had to be bad, since he usually notices the Grasshopper Rider always watching over Hibiki, even when others are in danger.

"Change of plans, send Vulcan to pick up Tachibana…" Ichigata said on the comm link.

"_Roger that, chief." _Balto responded on the coms.

Afterwards, he safely put Hibiki down and drove off to assist Zero-One. As he left, Balto quickly arrived onto the scene and placed the girl in his car before driving off. During the trek back to base, he soon looked at Hibiki with a look of confusion… and fear…

Balto's mind soon drifted back to the past… something he did his best on trying to repress and forget, yet the sight of Hibiki…. Brought back his nightmares from long ago….

XXX

_Flashback…._

_He remembered a large lab under attack, a strange creature ravaging the place while a younger Balto, who looked more like a wild child than who he was now with longer hair, dirt all across his body, and a few scars on his face, fled the scene on all fours. The child had a pale look of fear and despair as the lab was falling apart. _

_Pieces of the lab were coming down, busted through or broken, as bodies of human and Humagear scientists and more laid the area he ran from. This wasn't a Noise attack, as there were actual bodies instead of ash laying around. Each one either clawed down or smacked into others. Not even limbs were remaining as it was either gone or a full body._

_Balto shook his head as he fled, wanting to escape this place as he knew the danger that was lurking around. Soon as he reached a corridor, a bellow of grunts and sounds was heard echoing the lab. The creature that was hunting and taking everyone out was now trying to find him._

_He soon hid in a nearby structure, whimpering in fear while the creature looked around for him. It sniffed and touched the area, only to turn its head sharply as it walked over some rubble. Balto was scared that it found him, as he closed his eyes tightly and gripped the wolf tooth fossil around his neck._

_Rubble was heard being moved around as the creature hissed in response._

"_P-PLEASE! Don't kill- Guagh!" A cry of a hidden scientist got out, only for the creature to strike him down._

_It made a chuckle of amusement before it turned back around, roaring out with a bellow before it walked off. Soon, only silence can be heard. The monster was gone… and Balto was all that was left of this lab…._

_Flashback ends…_

XXX

"Asimov? Asimov!" a voice called out, "You're driving too fast, you're gonna crash!"

"Eh?" Balto snapped out of his trance, putting a hit on the brakes as he made a very harsh stop, only just inches away from a pillar of the highway, causing him to pant as sweat dripped from his forehead. '_T-Too close..'_ He whimpered in his thoughts.

"Are you okay, Asimov?" The voice called out, as it was Aio Tomosato's voice calling to him.

"Y-Yeah… I'm fine…" he said absent-mindedly, "Anyways, think you could give Hibiki a check-up?"

"Yes, I can." She nodded, as she unbuckled herself before moving in the backseat to check on her, "Besides the commander roughing her up? She's fine. Just needs some rest."

"Okay then…" he sighed as he got down from the car seat, "So, what exactly happened to her?" the boy asked in concern.

"I don't know… We'll have to ask Ryoko-san to do some tests once we get back." Aoi responded.

"I see…" the boy noted, looking down in regret.

"Hey, don't feel bad, Asimov-san." Aoi reassured, patting his shoulder with a smile. "You're at least helping her, rather than fighting and putting yourself in danger once again before being fully healed."

"I know… I just wish I was there to minimize the damage…" Balto sighed, resting his free arm on his cast.

"Any help you do is good enough. Don't feel bad for not being on the frontlines." Aoi said to him.

"Aight…" he sighed before going to watch the screen, which showed Ichigata catching up to Zero-One.

XXX

Zero-One was silent as he was racing through places, trying to reach ZAIA's HQ, as he was worried. How could he fall for such a trap? He smacked himself in his mind, feeling like a fool for being tricked. He could only reach the place and stop it before anyone else gets hurts, especially Izu and Yua.

"Why in such a rush, shonen?" the elder of the two asked him.

The rider turned his head to see Ichigata behind him, as he grunted, "Stay out of this! This is my matter!" Zero-One snapped, not trusting the veteran's intentions.

"It looks like you're gonna need backup for this one" he noted

"Grr… just leave me be, old man!" He snapped as he revved his RiseHopper, speeding up more.

As the younger of the two Riders rode off, Ichigata couldn't help but feel worried for him. He knew the young rider was supposedly stubborn, but usual calm minded. This must've been something too serious for him to act like this. He only knew that following and helping him out would be better than to simply leave the young rider be...

The two grasshopper Riders continued to drive through the city, leading to ZAIA. Though this would also be the turning point not only for Section 2, but Zero-One as well, as this would be the change that made not only his life different, but what sets everything else in motion. For now, they could only hope there weren't too many lives lost, not knowing this was still a plan in motion for something much bigger than a simple attack.

XXX

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

HackerEX: Whew, that was heavy...

Striberx: Heya minna. Striberx and HackerEX here. Sorry for the wait on updates, besides more heavy stuff going on in the world right now, I personally had a small break to recharge on everything. Work was getting rough to me to where I needed a vacation.

HackerEX: As for me, I mostly tried my best to update the stories that I have right now, such as EoT or Mystic Legends, which I'm currently working on the next chapter as of this writing. Should be out within the week if I can finish it in time… But enough about that, time to talk a bit about this chapter and yeah, like I said in the beginning, it was pretty heavy near the end and it's only gonna get worse...

Striberx: Though, this doesn't mean we're close to ending Season 1 of Symphogear, just changing things is all. We still have a bit to go before we can say that this arc/Season 1 will be done before moving onto G's season.

HackerEX: Yeah pretty much, though that doesn't mean that we can't tease elements of it in this arc, as shown by that little flashback nearer to the end.

Striberx: Yup. Also, for those wondering if we plan to be like Zero-One and have that twist? I can fully say we are not. As much of an amazing twist the series is doing? I don't think it would fit within this story. Maybe in another Zero-One story, but not this one. Though, this doesn't mean that Ark-One or anything won't show up, as they are going to, just different from the show.

HackerEX: Yeah, we're probably going to remix a couple of things to have it fit within our story. On that note, boy did I wish I knew about Kamen Rider Saber ahead of time. Like I said in EoT, it could have been the perfect crossover with Kingdom Hearts given all of it's stories...

Striberx: Trust me when I thought the same thing with other stories I've made. But that's also one thing with fanfics, that even if the story you have going on would've fit better with something in the future? Doesn't mean you can't make a new one with that in mind, just as long as it's not a full on copy of the one you already made.

HackerEX: Yeah, I guess so… On that note, we're gearing for another collab that'll actually span both of our accounts. I can't say much now, but let's just say that it's going to be Ultra-awesome!

Striberx: Yup, can only wait for that story to be published first before we say much on anything.

HackerEX: Right, right, right… Anyways, you know the drill. Fave, follow, review, and we'll see you for the next chapter.

Until next time, later minna!


End file.
